chapter1 · 005-ep5

Episode 5: This Is Straight-Up Modern Fantasy Now

The next morning.

I was dead tired.

Well — technically, the sleepiness itself wasn't all that heavy.

Probably thanks to 【Sleep Deprivation Adaptation】.

But that didn't erase last night's exhaustion, or the weight of the air at home.

I'd gotten back a little past one in the morning, and the family had squeezed me dry after that.

"Do you have any idea what time it was?"

"You could have contacted us even once."

"Being an Awakener does not mean you are free to go courting danger."

"Wait, are you stupid? Like, actually stupid? I mean, I knew, but..."

Every word of it was correct.

All of it left zero room for argument, so my only move had been an endless loop of "yes" and "sorry."

Of course, the family also knew full well that I was an Awakener.

Well — no way I could've hidden it in that situation anyway.

"...Haah."

Changing into my uniform, the sigh just came out.

And apparently, despite the world being like this, there's still regular school.

For a high schooler, Monday apparently stays Monday even when the world changes.

So, the first thing I saw when I got up that morning was the news.

On the other side of the screen, it was still Gates this, dungeons that, Awakeners nonstop, around the clock.

『Around dungeon Gates nationwide, police and Self-Defense Force security has been reinforced. Entry is now, in principle, prohibited.』

『Residents, please do not approach them under any circumstances.』

"Whoa, it's already gone that far?"

It slipped out.

Police and Self-Defense Forces posted at every dungeon.

Entry banned, for now.

Well, I'd figured that would happen sooner or later.

But it was faster than I expected.

This is Japan — I'd thought there'd be a little more dawdling before any decision.

That said.

"...Well, good thing I got in early."

And on that point, I meant it.

If things had stayed loose until this morning, I might never have even noticed that clearing achievements comes with Skills.

That would've stung.

No — way past stung.

I'd straight-up cry.

"Aniki, tough break, huh~"

From behind me came a voice having way too much fun.

I turned, and there was Rin, grinning away at me.

"About what?"

"The dungeons. You can't get in anymore, right?"

"For now, yeah."

"And you were just getting hooked, too. Poor thing~"

"Your phrasing's got thorns."

"I don't wanna hear it frooom the person who put his family through hell yesterday."

Not a word came back from me.

Remembering last night's lecture made my stomach hurt a little.

No, not a little.

It hurt quite a bit.

Mom and Dad were seriously angry, and partway through, Rin was straight-up making a face like she might cry.

So yes, I do feel bad about it.

I feel bad about it, but.

"Well, at least I got in before they shut it down."

"Whoa, that is the face of zero remorse."

"I have remorse. Tons."

"That's exactly what a guy with zero remorse would say."

Getting hit with nothing but valid points by my little sister first thing in the morning — it lands, quietly.

But it's the day after, so today I'll let her have her fun.

Shoveling down breakfast, I watched the news again.

Gate entry restrictions.

Police.

Self-Defense Forces.

Resident interviews.

Expert commentary.

Everywhere you looked, they were still feeling around in the dark.

Well, fair.

Dungeons just appeared in the world, out of nowhere.

You don't even need to think it over calmly to find it incomprehensible.

And yet, apparently, there's school.

Seriously, makes zero sense.

On the walk after leaving home, students heading the same way caught my eye here and there.

They all looked somehow ill at ease.

Whether that was because I'd become an Awakener and that's how they looked to me now,

or whether they were secretly a little thrilled by all this unreality,

I couldn't really tell.

But sure, of course people's moods would go a little weird.

Awakeners, Levels, dungeons, Skills.

It's just flat-out too much fantasy.

No — at this point, this is modern fantasy, plain and simple.

The fact that I was stringing all this together in my head on the way to school means my own mood's gone weird too.

"Ren-kun!"

Someone called from behind, and I turned.

Jogging up to me was Makino Sōsuke.

Still slightly hunched over, and how do I put it — the kind of guy who's basically timidity itself, put in a uniform and set walking.

"Morning."

"G-good morning..."

Once he fell in beside me, Sōsuke glanced around a little, then dropped his voice.

"It's gotten kind of insane, huh..."

"It has."

"Awakeners this, Awakeners that — the news has been nothing but that since yesterday..."

"It has."

"What about you, Ren-kun?"

"Huh? Me?"

"You know... the Awakening, and..."

He was doing his best to make it sound hard to ask, while pitching it straight down the middle.

"Well. It happened."

"Whaaa...!?"

Sōsuke's voice cracked a little.

"You're the one who asked."

"W-well, sure, but..."

"So what about you, Sōsuke?"

This part's just social ritual.

Asked a question, you're obligated to ask one back.

"A-actually, I'm one too."

"Oh, for real?"

I'd asked half out of politeness, but hearing someone I'm actually close to say it — you do end up surprised.

Then Sōsuke dropped his voice even lower.

"What's going to happen to us now? They're not gonna run experiments on us or dissect us or anything... right?"

It had never once crossed my mind, but hearing it out loud, it did seem slightly possible.

No — dissection is way too scary, though.

"That, I'd genuinely rather avoid..."

"Right?"

Sōsuke's shoulders drooped, easy to read as ever.

"But no point worrying about it, I guess."

He said that, and our topic moved on to school.

"Oh, by the way — that Mibu-san in Class 2? Rumor says she's already over Level 10. And she's got an attribute, too."

"Mibu Iroha, huh."

A student from another class, but even I knew the name.

Gorgeous.

Top grades.

Good at sports, too.

The so-called perfect superhuman.

And yet, almost nobody has ever seen her smile.

Naturally, that includes me — we've never crossed paths.

So behind her back, she gets called the Ice Queen and the like.

"But Level 10? How strong even is that?"

It slipped out.

I spent nearly two full days diving and only just hit 6, you know.

Well, I was busy chasing achievements, so it can't be helped.

"Mibu-san's dad is that famous politician, right? Supposedly, in connection with that, she spent the whole weekend diving dungeons."

"...How do you even know all that?"

"Huh? Oh, well... various... things."

Saying that, Sōsuke gave a slightly troubled smile.

His info network really is as impressive as ever.

School rumors, social media, the boards — he somehow always has a handle on it all.

After that, one thing led to another, and we made it into the school building and up to the second-floor hallway.

"W-well, see you later, Ren-kun."

"Yeah. Later."

Sōsuke headed into the Class 1 room.

After we parted, I headed for my own classroom, Class 3.

School, at a glance, was its usual self.

A school building, a field, students.

But everyone was oddly antsy today.

"Wait, you really Awakened?"

"What Level are you?"

"Is it true you've got an attribute?"

"Ahh, nice. I wanna be an Awakener tooo."

Voices like that kept drifting over.

Definitely nothing like school was last week.

Thinking that, I stepped into my own classroom.

This room too.

The second I walked in, the air was obviously different.

How do I put it — heavy air.

Taut, like a classroom right before exams.

And at the center of that air stood one person.

Sakagami Yūdai.

The class's leader type.

Its central figure, you might say.

Clearly upper-caste in the school hierarchy every school has.

Put more bluntly: he's G○da Takeshi... aka Ja○an.

Loud voice.

Big attitude.

Real confidence, too.

The type who stands out on any normal day.

But today's Sakagami was beyond his usual.

The way he sprawled back in his chair like it was a throne.

The absurdly big voice.

The weirdly triumphant face.

Even the hangers-on around him were giddy about something.

It never used to be this bad.

"No, I'm telling you, I can seriously see it. My Status, my Level, all of it."

Every time Sakagami said that, all full of himself, every eye in the room swung his way.

"Went and dove a dungeon over the weekend — my Level's already up to 8."

He threw his head back and laughed.

A small ripple ran through the room.

I see.

The guy who already held power in the class Awakens — of course that's what you get.

Honestly, it tracks.

He's the textbook "last person who should've Awakened" case.

"Of all people... not him..."

Whispers like that drifted over too.

"Hah?"

In one word, the classroom's air stopped.

"You say something?"

A whisper loud enough to reach even me.

Naturally, Gōda— I mean, Sakagami — had heard it too.

"Huh? N-no... nothing..."

Sakagami stood, walking straight down the middle of the classroom like he owned it.

His destination: wherever that whisper had come from.

"...Huh? Wh-what?"

He stopped beside that desk and broke into a grin.

The grin alone was already awful.

It wasn't bright.

It wasn't happy, either.

It was the kind you put on purely to scare someone.

"You were saying something just now, weren't you?"

"N-no..."

Sakagami bent down a little and peered into the guy's face.

"After school — just a biiit of your face, 'kay?"

"Huh? No, after school's kind of..."

"It really is just a little."

Sakagami said it with the grin still on.

"It'll be over quick."

It did not look like anything that would be over quick.

The guy on the receiving end's face was already stiffening.

"B-but I've got stuff to do today..."

BAM—

Sakagami slammed the desk with an open palm.

"...We clear?"

The classroom's air went cold all at once.

Nobody said a word.

Nobody could.

I watched it in silence too.

What are you even supposed to do with air like this?

That guy is, what's the term.

The type that got even worse after becoming an Awakener.

Give an already-pushy guy actual power, and yeah — this is what happens.

Ugh, I already want to go home.

And then ideally slip straight into a dungeon and knock out a few achievements—

Except, right, entry's banned now.

Right as I was thinking that, the front door of the classroom opened.

"Okay, okay, seats, everyone— too loud for this early in the morning."

At the voice of the homeroom teacher coming in, the air moved, just once.

"Yeaaah."

Sakagami answered magnanimously and drifted back to his own seat looking like nothing had happened.

I sat down too.

"...Haah."

At classroom air that had gotten even harder to sit in than last week, I let out a deep breath without realizing it.

This is gonna be a hassle for a while.