Greetings, O mysterious stranger. "Who is this?" you ask me. Well, I can't tell you my true origin, but I'm just an Observer. Just like you. And what am I watching? Just for one story.… Oh, are you interested?
Ah, I get it. You came here because you came across another fan's work based on your favorite story. Well, that's right, you've come for The Rising of the Shield Hero. The story of Iwatani Naofumi. A hero who was betrayed at the very beginning of his journey, whom everyone turned away from, but he was able to regain his honest name. I've got you figured out... However, I must warn you.
It's not the story you're used to. The characters in it behave differently and have a different backstory. The events you know can go in a completely different direction. "Why?" you ask. Simple — it's a different universe. With its own rules and history.
Interested? Well, I'm going to tell you the story of this world. And we'll probably start with the main character.
***
Morning. The nasty beeps of the alarm clock are buzzing in my ears as irritatingly as if I were standing inside a bell. Agonized moans, barely open eyes, a hand slowly reaching for the clock... it was all over. Now there are only two outcomes: to transform into the guise of a scoundrel and continue to lie on the bed, or to listen not to the heart, but to the mind and start a new day. No matter how much I wanted to choose the first option, work ordered me to get up. And so does the mother who enters the room.
"Good morning, Jun. It's time to get up," A caring motherly voice rang through the room.
"Mmm... just five more minutes…" The son mumbled into the pillow.
"No "five minutes". You asked me to wake you up yesterday because the alarm clock has a bad effect on you," The mother's voice grew distant as she walked further down the corridor. "So, get up, otherwise your father will eat the whole breakfast!" But this was already impossible to allow, so with great annoyance, but I had to get up.
Meet this kid, his name is Junpei, eighteen years old. Pale skin, jade-green eyes, and ashen shoulder-length hair. His physique is slightly toned, as he tries not to eat too much and has recently started going to the gym. By his nature, he was initially quite open, but, for some reason, he locked himself in his comfort zone, from which he does not intend to leave yet.
Rubbing his eyes, the boy quickly looks around his room. What distinguishes Jun from most guys his age is his passion for anime and Japanese games. Posters, action figures, manga, and boxes of video games filled the guy's room. He did not come to such addictions immediately. Initially, the path of life could have connected Iwatani with diametrically opposed activities, but someone stopped him and showed him a completely different world. The world of dating simulators, the experience of which, unfortunately, Jun has not yet used.
After putting on his home clothes, the guy went to the bathroom with a tired gait. The cool morning shower was invigorating like nothing else. After the bathroom treatments, Jun took care of his teeth, and then went down to the first floor. A freshly prepared breakfast was already waiting for him in the kitchen. The smell of the omelet with rice was a real bliss for the nose, and its taste made you want more. While the boy was having breakfast, his parents were already getting ready for work at an accelerated pace. It rarely happened that the whole family had breakfast together at the same table, because Jun's parents were very busy people, and his older brother…
"Jun, have you seen your brother recently?" Father asked, tying his tie.
"Yes, I visited him the other day," The son replied briefly, sipping his morning coffee.
"Didn't you remind him that your mom's birthday is coming up?" The woman was on the top floor, so the father could talk about it calmly. "It will be very nice if he comes to the party."
"I talked to him about it. He said he'd think about it…"
"I see," Father replied with slight annoyance.
Another half hour passes and only Jun remains in the house. After washing the dishes, he returned to his room to change into street clothes. He still had three hours to get to his part-time job on time, but he was in a hurry anyway, as the trains could either be delayed or canceled altogether. Putting on a white T-shirt, a dark green shirt and dark brown pants, Jun went to the front door. Black and white sneakers, a shoulder strap, and a cap to avoid sunstroke — all the necessary things were collected, so Jun opened the door.
After passing through the gate, the boy went to the station in order to take the train that would take him to the desired area. Tokyo is a vast city, so you have to use rail transport to get from one part of it to another. And, as is often the case, the point our hero needs is many kilometers from home. However, in this situation, one should not blame the damned employers, because it was Jun's personal initiative to find a job away from home. He wanted to get away from being trapped inside four walls for once. Well, an extra penny in your pocket never hurts, especially for such a lover of collectibles.
The sun was blazing, just like on the hottest days of August, even though it was only June. A light breeze slightly smoothed out the situation, but still, the heat was impossible. Passersby kept trying to cool down, and Jun just prayed that the train would have air conditioning. He hated the heat, as well as summer in general. He liked the temperate climate of spring much more than the high concentration of heat in summer, or the unimaginably cold winter. Now I would like to splash into cold water and stay in it until this heat is over. Jun did not notice how he reached the station while he was lost in his thoughts.
The doors close and the train departs for the next station. There weren't many people, and he managed to snatch an empty seat immediately. Looking around, the guy saw two girls chatting with each other, who looked so much like each other, as if they were sisters. And his older brother comes back to mind. When Jun was still a little boy, his brother was his mainstay, and he wanted to be like him in everything. However, at one point, something seemed to happen to the elder. His academic performance began to drop sharply, and his motivation for any achievements disappeared altogether. The worst part was the parents' reaction — they "forgot" about him, turning all their attention to the youngest. It hurt the older one. Very strongly.
Subsequently, the relationship between the brothers themselves deteriorated, which is why they began to communicate less and less often. And then the elder moved to another area of Tokyo, not without the financial help of his parents.
"But everything could have been resolved in a different way…" Jun thought aloud. Did he blame himself for this? If he used to blame it, now, after spending a lot of thought on this topic, he doesn't. Their parents just made one of several parenting mistakes.
The train stops, the doors slide open, and the boy goes to work.
***
Evening. The working day has come to an end and Jun is leaving. It was difficult to call it intense, since there were few customers in the cafe today due to the already mentioned heat. So our hero and his colleagues were mostly doing anything but not work. However, it was even a plus for the kid, he could sit in the back and not touch anyone. It's not that his colleagues are unpleasant to him, they're just different. They are the same as the majority of today's youth who have survived adolescence. Fans of social media and trends in everything that can suddenly shoot up. It will be difficult for a person who is not interested in such things to find a common language with them. It's easier to just distance yourself. Therefore, as soon as the working hours came to an end, there was no trace of Jun.
However, his feet don't lead him home. His work was located in the center of Tokyo, in a place where hundreds of different shops are located at the same time. Considering the interests of our hero, it's not hard to guess that he went to satisfy his little otaku. More specifically, he went to the bookstore to purchase a new volume of manga. There were several options as to which one to take. Either a continuation of his favorite romcom, or try to find one of the long-desired ones to read, or just go with the flow and take something completely new for himself.
What a disappointment it was when, having reached the cherished bookstore, he did not find his long-awaited sequel. Only the old volumes were on the shelves of the store. To make matters worse, there were no other titles that Jun would like to read, or there were anything but the first volumes on the shelves. It's annoying. All that remained was to run through the shelves and notice for yourself what, at least outwardly, looks intriguing.
It took about ten minutes of searching, but so far he hasn't been able to find anything interesting. Either the drawing did not suit, or the synopsis did not attract, as it had already happened more than once. He wanted something new, not hackneyed, that could rekindle the spark in the reader and capture his attention. Unfortunately, this was not the case.…
"Hmm?" Jun said as something fell from behind him.
Manga, to be precise. Its cover looked strange, unlike other hardcovers. It was white both on the front and back, with no title, no description, not a single word written on it. On the front side, there were only eight small glowing spheres lined up around four large ones. Each had its own color. Holding this book, Jun felt a tremor in his hands. It was as if there was something in her. Something was hiding under the manga's screen, hiding a sinister essence.
"... I'll put it back," a bit of temptation settled in the boy's head, but the instinct of self-preservation screamed danger. Jun returned the book to its empty place. - what?
Initially, he thought he was imagining things, but his peripheral vision was not mistaken. The next one, after the next one... the whole shelf was filled with this book. And not only this one, but also the lower one. As well as the upper and all shelves on the other two shelves. Even the ones where Jun watched another manga. It was necessary to find a consultant, or else go to the cashier and ask, however…
"Hey?" Despite the decent number of shelves in the store, the boy's speech echoed throughout the store. No one responded, there was no extraneous noise.
There was no one there
Jun wandered around the store looking for employees, but it was useless. There is not a single soul in the room, the back rooms are locked, and attempts to get through were unsuccessful. As he wandered, his eyes looked at other shelves, but the same white cover filled the shelves without words. The only option left was to escape from this store.
"What the hell is going on here?" The guy shouted in fright.
But the doors wouldn't open. Behind the glass, there was only endless emptiness and nothing more. Today was the most unfortunate day for Junpei in his entire life. Is he dead? Maybe. Jun didn't want to believe it, so as not to exaggerate even more. The realization that there was no way out of this place weighed on his very heart. Even attempts to break the glass of the sliding doors led to nothing but pain. Jun was terrified. He didn't know what to do. After finishing with the meaningless tapping, Jun sat on the floor, leaning against the door.
Thoughts about parents and brother came into his head. About how they would unsuccessfully try to find him, which would only lead to an even greater rupture of the entire bond between the family. And everything will be because of him. Now it's definitely because of him. The saddened boy closes his eyes so as not to see this nightmare. Maybe if he falls asleep, then on the contrary he will wake up in reality? He wanted to believe.
But they didn't let him sleep. Suddenly, the lights at the end of the store went off completely, which immediately startled Jun. Then another, and another, and another. The light was getting less and less, and it seemed to the guy that this monster was going to kill him. He turned to the glass and covered his face with his hands so as not to see what would kill him. And the light went out.
Then there was a strange, unlike anything else sound. And when Jun took his hands off his face, he saw something flashing a bright green light behind him. It was a book.
Turning around, he saw a book lying on the floor, on the cover of which one of the central balls was emitting an emerald light. It's all about her, he was right from the start. The book wanted something from him, rather it even demanded it. The feeling of terror and doubt still made his heart beat in a frenzied rhythm... but there was no other choice. Either he's going to open it now, or... the unknown.
"Argh... fuck it..." The guy swore softly.
He crawled over to the book and took it in both hands. A cold sweat ran down his back, as if Jun had woken up from a nightmare. It didn't do any good, and for Junpei, opening this book meant only a kind of self-grave. He thought about his family again and mentally asked them for good luck. His fingers frantically open the manga and flip through an empty page.
"Wow!" A sharp, blinding light formed right in front of the boy's eyes.
And then the book fell to the floor. There was no one left in the room.