Chapter 1: Quest 0: Escape from the Night Park

Makoto lay on the ground, staring up at the night sky.

The sky was covered with thick clouds, clouded white by the light rising from the city below.

‘What a filthy night sky,’ he thought.

The night sky he had looked up at as a child had been much clearer.

He gave a bitter smile at the thought.

Of course the night sky in his hometown had been clearer.

Comparing a metropolis of over one and a half million people to a rural town in Saitama was absurd to begin with.

He exhaled quietly.

Just that alone sent a sharp pain through him.

His vision was dark, and sounds reached him as if muffled.

The taste filling his mouth was blood.

He tried to move his body, but only his fingertips trembled faintly.

His body was completely chilled.

Even so, the frost-covered stone pavement and the midwinter air seemed intent on stealing what little warmth he had left.

At this rate, he might freeze to death.

The moment he became conscious of death, it felt as though his heart had been violently clenched.

Makoto was in a wide park near the station.

It was fairly busy during the day, and even at night there were people jogging.

A short walk away were shopping streets and residential areas.

He could not believe he would freeze to death in a place like this.

“…Why?”

Today had been no different from any other day.

As usual, he had woken up in his apartment and headed toward the station through the park.

At work, he handled his own duties while supporting his juniors, and he had stayed until the last train preparing documents.

He retraced the same road he had taken that morning, and someone attacked him from behind.

There were three, maybe four of them.

They were holding metal bats.

He could not move after the first blow, and after that he did not know how many times he had been struck.

He did not even know what they had wanted.

It had been strange for a robbery.

They had not demanded money, nor had they even tried to take his wallet.

“…Why?”

Makoto worked internal sales at a staffing agency.

He could not deny the possibility that someone he had failed to hire held a grudge against him.

However, all communication had been conducted over the phone.

Considering that, it was hard to believe he had been personally targeted.

“…Why?”

No matter how many times he asked himself, no answer seemed forthcoming.

The world did not run on logic.

Absurdity and injustice were allowed to prevail.

Effort did not always bring rewards.

Tragedy could strike without foreshadowing.

And the ending was not always a happy one.

Makoto had first become aware of that over twenty years ago—when he was in high school.

At that time, his father had fallen into debt.

The circumstances leading to that debt were not particularly unusual.

After taking an early retirement package from a major trading company, his father had been approached by a former superior.

His father worked under the man, lent him his retirement funds to expand the business, and even became a guarantor for loans.

Then the company went bankrupt, and his father was left with massive debt.

It had been a terrible situation, but not the worst possible.

If all four family members had worked, they should have been able to repay it with some leeway.

However, his older brother, who had just graduated from university, ran away without hesitation.

The household finances were pushed to the brink of collapse, and Makoto gave up on going to university to start working.

It was the era known as the employment ice age, when even university graduates struggled to find jobs.

For Makoto, who had only a high school diploma and did not even have a scooter license, it was even harsher.

He went through interviews at dozens of companies, and the one that hired him was his current employer.

Unpaid overtime and working on holidays were the norm, the power harassment was brutal, and complaints were constant.

He could not get a girlfriend.

No, even when he did, they soon broke up.

He had no money to go out or buy presents.

Makoto fought with his parents many times.

Each time they fought, his sense of misery deepened.

Just thinking about the future was painful.

When the debt was finally paid off, Makoto was twenty-eight years old.

His mother told him he could still go to university, but he no longer had the energy to start something new.

Around the time he was about to turn thirty, he was ordered to transfer, and he obeyed.

He had felt uneasy about leaving the place where he had been born and raised, but his brother’s presence pushed him to decide.

His brother had returned.

And he had brought a wife and child with him.

Their parents welcomed them warmly, but Makoto could not feel the same.

While Makoto had wasted his life repaying the debt, his brother had obtained an ordinary happiness.

There was no way he could forgive that.

Suppressing his hatred toward his brother and his family had taken all his strength.

If he had not left home, he might have killed them.

Eight years had passed since he left his hometown.

He only spoke with them occasionally by phone and had not returned home.

The hatred still smoldered deep in his chest.

‘Snow,’ Makoto narrowed his eyes.

Large, heavy flakes fell from the sky.

The surroundings were gradually being covered in white.

“…I’m done.”

‘I’m tired,’ Makoto closed his eyes.

He was tired.

Above all, he was tired.

He was tired of a life that never went the way he wanted.

His consciousness was slowly swallowed by darkness.

It felt much like drifting into a light doze.

Perhaps he would die while drifting between wakefulness and sleep.

Strangely, he did not feel fear.

Maybe this was what it meant for one’s emotions to grow calm.

The intervals of sleep grew longer and longer.

Just as he began to find waking itself bothersome, his heart stirred.

It was a small spark of emotion.

Like ripples spreading outward, it repainted his heart.

“…N-No.”

Makoto opened his eyes wide and whispered faintly.

It hurt.

His breath reeked of blood.

He felt nauseous.

His head throbbed.

But he was alive.

He was still alive.

“…Someone.”

He called for help.

His voice was faint, and his body barely moved at all.

Only his fingertips could move slightly.

Even so, he struggled.

“I don’t want to, I don’t want to, I don’t want to die. Why do I—”

Have to die.

His vision blurred with tears.

Snow covered his body.

Why did he have to suffer like this.

Why was he the only one who had to suffer.

“…Someone, help me.”

With those words, Makoto lost consciousness.