The First Eruption
The system message coldly declared the end of the world.
[The Rift is erupting.]
[You can collect various Disasters from the Rift Eruption.]
[Defeat the Disasters and dominate them. The Disasters you dominate will strengthen your base as loyal servants.]
[The Eruption will end in 6h.]
And the heads of state, who had trusted that their well-trained armies could stop the Disasters, fell into despair at the sight of monsters that moved as if bullets and shells meant nothing to them. The soldiers on the scene felt the same.
“Why aren’t the guns working?!”
“Ah, it seems our weapons are useless.”
“What the hell is that thing?!”
“That one’s a player or whatever they’re called.”
Only a few soldiers’ bullets landed effective hits on the monsters. A non-commissioned officer watching the scene scratched his cheek. He too had received the system message a few days ago. That suspicious message asking if he wanted to become the ruler of this world. Most people had chosen to refuse or put it on hold, opting to remain bystanders. And only the thoughtless idiots had chosen to become players. Sure enough, these monsters could only be dealt with by those fools who didn’t value their own lives. For example, like that man over there swinging a baseball bat.
Thwack!
A monster that hadn’t even flinched after dozens of bullets to the body collapsed with its head caved in from a single baseball bat. The non-commissioned officer gave a bitter smile.
“The world’s going to change a lot from now on.”
“…It already has.”
The officer also thought that the structure of the world would soon be reorganized around those Awakened. “If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve become an Awakened or whatever too.”
“…You’re telling me.”
At the non-commissioned officer’s words, the officer grimaced and spat.
*
Crack!
The firmly swung baseball bat caved in the head of a goblin-like monster.
[You have defeated a 1★ Forest Imp.]
[Reward: 5 Exp / 1★ Forest Imp]
Ding.
[You have no base, so you cannot collect Disasters.]
“Hah.”
I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the game’s exploits being faithfully applied in reality.
[Ruler ‘Actor’, please set a base.]
[Collecting Disasters is an essential element in strengthening your base!]
The system message was shouting for me to create a base, but I lightly ignored it. As the status window said, collecting basic Disasters during the early Rift Eruption was very important. However…
“Why do I need a base when this is an infinite EXP farming opportunity?”
Having played this game for five years, I knew. You needed a base to collect characters. But there was a limit to how many you could collect at once, depending on the base’s upgrade status. A newly created base could only obtain a measly ten characters. In other words, you could only feed ten monsters’ worth of EXP into base upgrades. Conversely, what if you defeated monsters without setting a base?
[You have defeated a 1★ Leaf Fairy.]
[Reward: 5 Exp / 1★ Leaf Fairy]
[You have no base, so you cannot collect Disasters.]
[Please set a base.]
This way, you could defeat Disasters without filling the base’s slots. You wouldn’t obtain the Disasters, but you could freely consume the EXP. When I first started playing the game, I had reset my data the moment I realized this. But in reality, there was no such thing as rerolling. If I didn’t steadily secure efficiency from now on, I could fall at any moment.
Crack!
The Forest Imp struck by my baseball bat let out a final scream and vanished into silver particles. The heavy sensation that reached my hand was unmistakable, yet the sight of it scattering into EXP instead of leaving a corpse felt closer to a game effect.
“…What the hell am I supposed to follow?”
Was this a game, or reality? The ache in my shoulder suggested it was reality.
“I don’t want to die.”
I didn’t know how this world would change. But I knew all too well how vicious the settings of the Disasters that appeared in Disaster Order were. Even Forest Imps and Leaf Fairies, who had less combat power than a small dog, were monsters that, according to their lore, hunted lost travelers in packs and practiced cannibalism. If even 1★ Disasters could kill people when gathered in numbers, how terrifying would 5★ Disasters be? The 5★ characters I had collected were each the worst villains who had destroyed the world. To survive against such terrifying monsters, I had to adapt to this system as quickly as possible.
Thwack!
[You have defeated a 1★ Leaf Fairy.]
[Reward: 5 Exp / 1★ Leaf Fairy]
That was how I beat down every Disaster I could see. Thanks to my confidence in my stamina, it wasn’t too difficult. It wasn’t difficult, but it was grueling. No matter how monstrous they were, they were still living beings. Every time I killed an Imp, I felt the illusion of crushing a child’s skull. It was unpleasant, as expected.
[The Rift Eruption will end in 4h.]
I had already been swinging the club for two hours. In that time, I had dealt with a total of fifteen 1★ Disasters. Converted into numbers, that was 75 Exp. It wasn’t much, but it was precious EXP.
“I should probably set a base soon.”
I caught my breath and tapped the bent baseball bat against the ground. The 1★ Disasters nearby had been roughly cleared out. It would be the right decision to return home, set a base, catch my breath, and then come back out to collect Disasters. Having made that decision, I started walking.
“…S-Stop! It’s a person!”
The moment I turned the corner, I came face to face with four or five burly men. The man in the lead had raised a sledgehammer high, and if I had taken one more step, my head would have been pierced through.
“Sh-Shit. Thought it was a monster.”
The man shook his head and lowered the sledgehammer. Only then could I observe the appearance of the men behind him. Like me, they each carried weapons.
“Uh…”
Meanwhile, the man in the lead flinched when he saw the club I was holding and the flesh stuck to it. He swallowed hard and asked, “A-Are you an Awakened too?”
“If you say ‘too’… does that mean you gentlemen are Awakened as well?”
The men nodded at my question. I hadn’t expected there to be so many idiots who had pressed accept on that suspicious system message. Then again, with stories about Awakened popping up on the community every other day, it wasn’t surprising that my neighborhood was no different. Relieved that we were in the same situation, the man gave a small laugh and extended his hand.
“Wanna team up since it’s come to this? Seems like we gotta fill up ten before the Rift closes, and we’ve only got about half.”
They seemed to be hunting Disasters in a group. The leader had a rough-looking face with shortly cropped hair. His arms and shoulders were even covered in dragon-shaped irezumi tattoos.
“Young fella, looks like you’ve already farmed quite a bit. How ’bout it, wanna join us?”
Having lived off reading people’s expressions for years, I could tell. That man was clearly a gangster. Nothing good would come from getting involved with him.
“I-I think I’m a bit tired, so I should probably head back now.”
The gangster didn’t show much of a reaction to my words. Maybe it was because my physique didn’t look particularly sturdy at a glance. He jerked his chin toward the other side, and I bowed my head as I passed in front of him.
‘I need to be careful.’
Unlike Disaster Order, which was a single-player game, the number of players in this world would be in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. They said the most frightening thing wasn’t monsters, but people. I needed to be wary of fellow players even more than the monsters.
I was thinking that as I passed between the men when—
“Huh? Boss! There’s a pretty big one over there!”
At the words of the scout, everyone’s gaze turned to the end of the alley. There stood a beast with a crimson mane. Its appearance was close to that of a large dog. Its gentle face made it look harmless at first glance.
“What is that? Looks stronger than the little ones we’ve been killing.”
“Isn’t that about 2★? We should catch it if we can.”
“2★, huh. Is that good?”
“Ah, Boss, you haven’t played this kind of game much, have you? If you eat a strong mob early on, the game gets easier. It’s common sense, common sense.”
The men exchanged glances as they talked. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the wolf.
“…That’s a Hellfire Watchdog.”
It was a familiar sight. A dud character that frequently appeared in high-grade Disaster synthesis. But no matter how much of a dud it was, it was still a high-grade Disaster.
“…Why is a 4★ appearing here…?”
A 4★ Disaster, the Hellfire Watchdog, stood before my eyes. There was only one choice. I had to run.
“Oh-ho. So you’re saying catching that’ll make things easier from now on?”
Meanwhile, the men seemed to have already made up their minds. The man with the sledgehammer tapped the handle with his other hand.
“Then I’ll draw its attention first, so Boss, you drive a nail into its head.”
“Got it.”
Maybe it was because they had already killed several 1★ Disasters. The men had become overly arrogant. Perhaps they had been blinded by this reality that resembled a game. But that thing wasn’t an existence that could be dealt with by human strength alone. And I wasn’t the kind of cold-hearted thinker who could turn my back and leave those idiots charging to their deaths.
“No! You can’t! You have to run!”
I shouted loudly, and at my words, the men turned their heads.
“…What?”
“Th-That wolf is on a completely different level from anything we’ve faced! You can’t compare it to something like a Forest Imp!”
“Yeah. It’ll be different. But there are six of us.”
Saying that, the gangster grinned at me.
“No, seven now.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re in too. You’ll get a share of the EXP at least. Nothing bad for you, right? Don’t you want that 2★ or whatever?”
Shit. The gangster had naturally added me to the party. My mouth felt completely dry. If this continued, I would inevitably be forced into a suicide charge. What should I do? I shouted whatever came to mind.
“I’ve played this game before!”
“And a guy like that is out here hunting like a madman?”
“Ah.”
It didn’t work at all. Instead, the gangster gave a devilish smile and took a step closer to me.
“Listen to me. That’s a 4★. A 4★ Disaster. We can’t beat it.”
“4★?”
The gangster tilted his head and asked his companion, “Hey, is 4★ good?”
“Of course, Boss. In other games, you’d kill to have one.”
The easily swayed gangster grinned. The next moment, the Awakened I had thought were allies turned into my rivals. The gangster holding the nail gun pointed the muzzle at me.
“Lead the way.”
“…Excuse me?”
“…Fuck, who’s gonna know if one of you dies here? Stop yapping and get in front. You’ve got a bat, don’t you?”
Maybe intervening had been a mistake after all. A terrible dizziness washed over me. Should I run? Even if he was a gangster, would he shoot someone in the back while they were running? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to bet my life on probability.
“Fuck! Listen to what I’m—”
It was the moment he was about to yell. “Huh? Boss. That thing saw us.”
“What?”
Whether the noise we made had reached the Hellfire Watchdog, it was now staring straight at us. And it looked hungry. Because it came running straight toward us.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Soon the vibrations shook the ground, and the Hellfire Watchdog’s mane spread out in the shape of a blazing sun. Contrary to its gentle appearance, the Hellfire Watchdog, wreathed in a mane of giant flames, began charging forward, destroying every obstacle in its path.
“…H-Huh? Boss! That thing… too…”
Those were the man’s last words. The Watchdog, which had already reached right in front of him, bit into his neck. Blood gushed out, and the heat of the flames touched my face.
“…Aaaagh!”
Someone died right in front of my eyes. There was no one who wouldn’t be shaken. The party collapsed in an instant. The gangster also turned and ran. But to the Hellhound, an opponent showing their back was an even better sacrifice. The Watchdog’s teeth sank into the gangster’s back, and blood soaked the surroundings. Amid the chaos where one by one they were turning into corpses, I backed away.
“Shit, shiiit…”
My teeth chattered. I should’ve run the moment I saw the wolf instead of sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. Was I going to die like this? In just the first Eruption, the first stage?
“Grr?”
And the Hellhound, which had finally turned six humans into chunks of meat, glared at me. It charged toward me and raised its flame-wrought forepaw. I squeezed my eyes shut. But contrary to my expectations, there was no impact.
“Stop.”
A hoarse voice rang out. It was only a single word, but it carried power. The Hellhound that had been tearing humans apart just moments ago let out a whimper and cowered like a pet dog facing a tiger. Soon, a figure appeared beyond. Though their entire body was wreathed in flames, I could clearly make out their appearance. A torn nun’s habit, ash-gray hair, glowing red eyes. A face I had seen countless times while playing Disaster Order.
[5★ Scorched Saint Selene is watching you.]
“Selene.”
The Scorched Saint, Selene, made a face as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment when her name was called.
“My Lord.”
The Disaster recognized me. Warm flames enveloped the surroundings.