Countdown

Three weeks had passed since that day, and the situation had only deteriorated.

The school infirmary no longer resembled part of an educational institution. It looked more like a field hospital's waiting room.

The sharp, stinging smell of disinfectant and medicated patches. And from all around, the agonized groans of students.

"Sensei, my head… it's like bells are ringing inside my head…"

"I can't stop throwing up… feels like the ground is shaking…"

A female student slumped weakly in a folding chair. A male student pressing a plastic bag to his mouth, face deathly pale.

The school nurse rushed between them, her face showing exhaustion and frustration she couldn't hide.

They all seemed to believe this was "out-of-season flu" or "weather-related illness from low pressure," but I saw something completely different.

(… I didn't expect the maso sickness to get this severe.)

I leaned against the hallway wall, coolly observing the tragic scene.

Over the past few days, the maso concentration in the atmosphere had risen at an abnormal rate. And it wasn't the pure mana found in nature. It was corrupted maso: air from another world, mixed with distorted magnetic fields and full of noise.

The nervous systems of modern people with no resistance to mana were screaming under the assault of unknown energy interference.

Particularly those with high magical sensitivity, people with latent potential as mages or clerics, tended to show more severe symptoms.

"… Hey, Kurose."

Suddenly, a hoarse voice called out.

I looked down to see Sakaki sitting on a bench at my feet, hand pressed to his forehead.

His usual cheerfulness was nowhere to be seen. His complexion was ashen, deep dark circles carved under his eyes.

Given his sharp intuition, he must be strongly affected. Just as I suspected.

"You okay, Sakaki? You look like a corpse."

"Shut up… My head's about to split. How are you fine? Everyone's collapsing left and right."

"I've always been thick-skinned. Do you have painkillers?"

"Took some. But they don't work at all. This is the first time I've had pain that medicine can't touch."

Sakaki bit his lip in frustration and gulped water from a plastic bottle with shaking hands.

Of course. It wasn't physical inflammation, so over-the-counter painkillers were useless.

If there was a cure, it would be learning mana circulation to control the maso in your body, or waiting for the world itself to transform and for human bodies to adapt.

"… Hey, Kurose."

Sakaki lowered his voice as if wary of those around him.

"I had another one. A dream."

"What kind?"

"The sky cracks like glass. I see a red sky… and countless eyes staring down at us from there. And you're standing in the middle of it all, covered in blood."

I gazed down at him without moving a muscle.

Prophetic dream.

With the spatial barrier pushed to its limit, his sharp perception was unconsciously picking up information from the other side.

Would I be the one covered in blood, or the monsters I'd cut down?

Either way, his dream had accurately captured a glimpse of the future.

"… What a morbid dream."

"Yeah, no kidding. Can't laugh at it."

"Sakaki. Let me tell you one thing."

I placed my hand on his shoulder.

This might be my last piece of advice as a friend.

"If that dream becomes reality, run without hesitation. Got it? Don't stop. Don't try to understand. Just follow your survival instincts."

"… The hell? You're talking like something's really going to happen."

"Better safe than sorry. Go home early today and rest."

I turned away from Sakaki and left.

Feeling his gaze piercing my back, I looked up at the leaden sky through the window.

(… Too fast.)

According to my original calculations, there should have been nearly two more weeks until the world barrier collapsed.

But reality was different.

The Mana Core inside my body was ticking a merciless countdown.

Less than seventy-two hours remaining.

This acceleration was abnormal.

For naturally occurring dungeonification, the progression was far too rapid. It was as if something on the other side had detected this world's fragility and was forcibly driving in wedges to pry the cracks open.

But the reason could wait.

What mattered was the single fact that X-Day was imminent.

Preparation time had been cut short.

No more time for leisurely building basic fitness.

 

*

 

After school. I returned home without speaking to anyone and locked my bedroom door.

I closed the curtains tight and pulled the "real deal" equipment from the back of my closet.

First, the main weapon.

The deformed rebar I'd procured at a home center and sharpened night after night.

I carefully placed it into the case I'd prepared for today.

A large hard rod case I'd bought at a fishing tackle shop.

On the outside, I'd deliberately slapped a worn sticker reading "Sweetfish Fishing Club," camouflage so no one would imagine there was a deadly iron mass inside.

Even a two-meter rebar could be carried openly as "hobby equipment" this way.

Next, the backpack.

A sixty-liter mountaineering size.

Its contents were composed solely of supplies necessary for survival.

Water. Six two-liter bottles. Twelve kilograms total.

They say a person can survive three days without water, but that's when resting. In extreme conditions involving combat and mana use, dehydration would immobilize you in less than half a day.

Stockpiling as much clean water as possible was essential before I had to resort to drinking muddy water.

Food.

CalorieMate, yokan, high-purity chocolate.

No cooking required, no noise, and instant glucose to fuel brain and muscles.

I excluded things like hardtack that would steal moisture from my mouth.

And the medical kit.

Bandages, gauze, strong disinfectant. Plus antibiotics and painkillers transferred into empty cold medicine bottles.

In an early-stage world without potions, infection from wounds meant death. A single antibiotic tablet would be worth more than gold.

"… Total weight, about fifteen kilos."

I lifted the fully packed backpack and tested its weight with one hand.

My former weak body would have been winded just carrying it.

But now, with mana circuits opened and Body Strengthening trained, even this weight felt like a reassuring part of my "armor."

The sound of the zipper closing echoed in the quiet room.

Packing was complete.

The reference books arranged on my desk, the class schedule posted on the wall. They all looked like faded relics of some distant past.

From downstairs, I could hear Mom's chopping as she made dinner and the TV sounds from Chika watching shows.

Rhythmic tap-tap-tap. The carefree laughter of a variety show.

Such peaceful, such fragile sounds of everyday life.

(… These sounds might be gone by the day after tomorrow.)

I turned my eyes to the calendar on the wall.

Early July. Midterm exam dates were neatly marked in blue pen.

I pulled a red marker from my desk drawer and uncapped it.

The sharp ink smell stung my nostrils, steeling my resolve.

I circled the date two days before finals, the day after tomorrow, boldly and thickly in red.

Squeak, squeak, the sound rang out.

Once wasn't enough; I traced over it twice, three times.

Until the ink bled and nearly tore through the calendar paper.

X-Day.

Judgment Day.

Or perhaps the day I would truly "awaken" in the real sense.

"… Phew."

I set down the pen and leaned back deep in my chair.

Strangely, my heart was calm as a still lake.

No fear. No anxiety.

Only the relief of finally reaching the starting line after such long preparation.

Outside the window, the sun was setting and the town sinking into darkness.

But I could see it clearly.

Beyond the night sky, red-black vein-like cracks spreading as if to obscure the starlight.

Pulsing, throbbing, swelling as if ready to burst.

(Can I protect them?)

I asked myself.

My specs were still only F-rank equivalent. Body Strengthening wasn't perfect, and my magic was at lighter-flame level.

Save the world? Protect humanity?

Leave such grandiose things to those who like playing hero.

What I would protect was only this territory within a few meters.

My laughing family downstairs.

My friend suffering from headaches.

And my own dignity.

To protect these, I brought back memories from hell and took up the sword again.

"Bring it on. Come whenever you want."

I murmured to no one in particular and closed my eyes.

The calm before the storm filled the room.

Hours until the world ended.

I decided to take my final rest.

The next time I left this room, I could no longer be "just a high schooler."

My real life was about to begin.