The sun had retreated below the horizon, some time ago.
Ishiki sat on the rubble of what used to be home, head buried in his hands, fingers pressed hard against each other. A cold hand pressed on his shoulder, sending shivers down his body.
He slowly looked up to find the familiar figure of the woman standing near him. her eyes were narrowed and her long here were now bind in a ponytail.
"We need to move," she said quietly, voice barely above a whisper, as if trying not to disturb whatever lurked in the shadows. "It's dangerous after dark. No sunlight means the Xenons can hunt freely."
"Right." Ishiki managed a small nod, forcing himself to stand. Wiping the dried blood from his chin, he looked up and chuckled inwardly.
He'd hoped to see Earth's moon tonight. That beautiful, cold celestial body that he had witnessed in his trials. But the clouds had other plans, apparently.
'Well, Mom... I know you're alive. I have to believe that. I really, really have to and I promise, I will find you.' Then he gave the rubble of his house a final look and nodded to the woman.
They ran.
Under the dim glow of barely functioning streetlights—powered by generators or solar batteries or whatever scraps of infrastructure remained, two figures sprinted through the darkness. Jumping over rubble, darting between ruined buildings that sprawled across the landscape.
The woman sprinted with an otherworldly speed, while the young man behind her fell a few inches behind after every minute.
'Damn this wild lady... how the hell is she running so fast.' Ishiki cursed and stumbled to a halt beside a collapsed building, hands on knees, gasping for air.
"Tired already?" The woman stood about fifteen meters ahead, completely unbothered, and tossed something through the air. "Come on, we've got two kilometers to cover."
Ishiki's eyes widened as the water bottle spun toward him. He lunged sideways, nearly falling as he tried to catch it.
"Don't throw things like that!" he scowled.
"You Dumbass! don't shout." The lady hissed back.
He unscrewed the cap with trembling fingers and drank. The water hit his tongue like salvation. Cool and clean, the best thing he'd tasted since returning to Earth. Each drop felt divine.
'This is so good. This is—'
"GROWWWLLLL!"
Ishiki flinched so hard he almost dropped the bottle, water spraying from his mouth in an sputter.
'What the hell is wrong with you?! Let me enjoy my water in peace!'
He turned around slowly, dread pooling in his stomach.
A Xenon towered above him—easily three meters tall, muscles bulging under green-gray skin, jaw distended with too many teeth. Its red eyes looking at the small human body.
A weird smile twitched at Ishiki's lips. The kind of smile people make when their brain short-circuits.
"H...hey there! Bye i need to get going, It's getting late, you know." And then he scrambled into a sprint, behind the woman who was already running.
Behind him, the Xenon lunged forward on powerful legs, covering distance with terrifying ease. Each footfall shook the ground like a miniature earthquake.
The woman glanced back, then at Ishiki, expression caught between exasperation and genuine concern. "I told you not to shout!"
"When did I shout? You shouted!"
THUMP.
The Xenon landed meters behind him, close enough that Ishiki felt the displaced air. A massive hand swung from the side, fingers spread wide to grab him.
Ishiki rolled forward, missing the hand by centimeters.
'Screw you! I just got back, you mindless bastard! Leave me alone!'
The Xenon however, stopped and checked its hand, but found nothing and then lunged again.
It was a mindless beast now. One that had once been a person with hopes and dreams and a name. Now it just ran to eat, driven by hunger it couldn't understand and rage it couldn't process.
They sprinted past half-shattered buildings, through debris fields that had once provided for thousands of citizens. Concrete that had held up floating islands. Steel that had supported dreams of endless progress. Now it all lay broken, littered with the remnants of those who'd believed in that dream.
Some of the scattered belongings had belonged to ground-level people like Ishiki. Some to those who'd enjoyed power and privilege up in Neo-Tokyo's floating sectors.
In the face of death, none of it mattered. Your identity became irrelevant. Your bank account couldn't buy you another heartbeat.
'Focus... only survival is what matters.'
Still, it was such a... ghastly sight to witness.
"GROWLLLLL!"
The abomination growled one again... with all its might and increased its speed, now running on all its four limbs.
'Damned thing doesn't give up!'
"Can't you fight it?" Ishiki shouted desperately, legs burning.
She looked back and hissed through gritted teeth. "Why do you think I'm running, idiot?! I can't!"
Ishiki stared at her with thorough dissatisfaction. This woman had killed a Xenon earlier by throwing her sword like a dart. Now she couldn't handle one?
"My powers weaken ten times during night!" she added, vaulting over a fallen pillar without breaking stride.
'Oh. That... actually makes perfect sense. And also explains why we're running for our lives instead of standing our ground.'
They ran. And ran. And ran.
After running, dodging and cursing the demon for what felt like an eternity, they finally took a swift turn and skidded to a halt in front of a large makeshift gate constructed from tin sheets and reinforced with scavenged metal.
Two beams of bright light stabbed down from above, temporarily blinding them. Ishiki squinted against the glare and made out two figures stationed on watchtowers flanking the entrance.
The Woman gave a thumbs up and the gates were opened.
Without wasting even a second both of them dashed in, behind them the Demon finally turned, but then two men standing atop the watch towers shot it with arrows. The arrows hit demon at his head and where the heart was supposed to be, killing the demon instantly.
Then the gates closed as the two figures jumped in.
'Phew... that was close.'
Ishiki let out a heavy sigh, then looked up properly for the first time.
They stood in what had once been a school garden, now transformed into something that resembled a military compound. Tents clustered in organized rows. Fires burned in pits. People moved between structures, some carrying weapons, others supplies.
It looked functional. Defensible. Almost civilized in this new world of ruins and monsters.
The woman straightened her jacket and looked at him with a smile that finally reached her eyes. "welcome to the Relief camp. Uh... I don't know your name."
Then she chuckled, "I'm Kaori, by the way. Figured you should know the name of the woman you sexually harassed."
He hesitated and then spoke. "Ishiki... I am Ishiki Senju. Thanks for saving me."
Kaori waved dismissively and started walking toward the main school building, gesturing for him to follow. They passed rows of tents, groups of survivors huddled around fires, children who stared at them with hollow eyes that had seen too much.
At the edge of the vast garden, Kaori stopped near a neatly constructed hut that looked bizarrely official given the apocalyptic setting.
Ishiki gave it several weird looks.
Kaori caught his expression and hissed, "What are you staring at? Go inside and get yourself registered."
"What? Registered?"
"Yes, registered. Like a normal functioning society. Go."
He stood frozen for a moment, then opened the hut's door and stepped inside.
A young man in his early twenties maybe, wearing glasses, sat behind a makeshift desk constructed from salvaged wood. Papers were organized in neat stacks around him, and a single light over the table.
When he noticed Ishiki, the young man straightened immediately and gestured to the chair across from him. "Please, sit. Are you a newcomer?"
Ishiki nodded, lowering himself into the chair carefully.
The young man stood and bowed slightly—a gesture that felt absurdly formal in this ruined world. "Welcome to the relief camp, Player."
The word "Player" made Ishiki's skin crawl. That's what he was now. Not a human or even just a survivor.
A Player.
The registrar sat back down, pulling a fresh white form from beneath the desk. He looked at Ishiki with a professional smile.
Then he asked the question Ishiki had been dreading since the moment he'd earned his Mythical title:
"So. Did you receive a Title from your trial?"