Asakusa District, Tokyo, Japan.
Friday, May 8, 2020, 7:00 p.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST).
Covered by tall skyscrapers and lined shopping areas, a pizza shop (pizzeria) stood firmly on the side of the road.
The wall was painted in orange and reddish color, the color which usually used by building designers to paint fast-food stalls. Orange, yellow, red, white, normally those stalls had one of them at the least. Probably because these were thought to be more effective to attract onlookers, prospective customers. The building looked bright and vibrant with them, which made them distinctive compared to grayish and dull-painted buildings.
After all, no one would want to eat in a restaurant with a gloomy look, right?
There stood the pizzeria's signboard, twenty feet from the store front, separated by a narrow parking lot.
Had a height of nine-or-some feet, it clearly displayed "Kimura Pizzeria" there, written in Roman alphabet as well as in Katakana*.
What's more, the shop owner added a bright lightbulb there, facing down the pedestal, so it could be used as a signboard and as a street light.
The time was seven o'clock at night. That was the reason why the street light were turned on.
Not only the Pizzeria's, but the whole shopping area also lit up their street light. Asakusa District looked like a sea of lights.
Unfortunately, such scenery wasn't filled with the bustling activities of streams of human under the night sky, as it had used to be.
Almost all of the citizens chose to be in the house or rather, they were forced to be in their house.
Anyone would've thought that seven p.m. was too early to sleep in, or at least to lock themselves in the house.
The reason of such thing was the existence of the [Breakers].
They had been haunting the world and humanity or ten years, and the latter was still unable to do those 'things' rightly.
However, casualties and damages were minimized by the presence of the [Players], a group of chosen people who could utilize the [Rune].
For the time being, it seemed that revealing the mystery of the origin of the Breakers was impossible, due to the fact that the Players themselves were still unable to answer where had the Rune came from and other mysteries that revolving it.
They only use it to survive and try to maintain a stalemate between the two parties, humans and Breakers.
All of these were still covered by thick dust and left unsolvable mysteries since then.
The best thing that humanity could do at the moment was to struggle through these hardships, until someone who was brave enough could bring a change to this gloomy world.
But who would've thought, when almost everyone chose to end their activities and looked after themselves in their own homes, there were two people who were daring to remain outdoor.
The two people were a teenage boy, who was around 18 to 19 years old by his looks, and a middle-aged man with muscular postures and a clear bald head.
"Again? Even for today, you still want to deliver night orders? " The middle-aged man opened the conversation with a question.
In front of him stood the teenager. He was seen wearing the uniform from the pizzeria and holding his Vespa by the handling.
It was pretty obvious, since the colors and patterns on the uniform were exactly the same as the ona at the pizzeria's.
"You were lucky at the other days. But don't you know that we shouldn't spend our luck rashly or it would gone, do you?" He advised him.
From his tone, one could judge that he was very worried about the boy.
The teenager, who was being counseled, just smiled awkwardly. His hand scratched his not-so-itchy head at its back.
"W-well, this was the last time, I swear. Don't worry too much, the Goddess of Fortune seems to really like me," he answered, trying to convince the man to not worry about him too much.
A look of doubt flashed on his face after hearing the answer.
He then sighed, "Huft, promise me, this will be your last time to do something risky like this, Renka." The uncle answered the teenager who was later known to had the first name Renka.
While wearing the helmet, Renka answered.
"You know uncle? Teenagers at my age had entered a period where he must learn to be independent. " Renka locked the safety on his helmet. Safety first, he tought.
He then continued his words, "And it's not the time to worry about me anymore, Uncle. After all, I am a Player legitimately, trust me. " He convinced his uncle once again, trying to get rid of all the doubts that were in his uncle's mind.
Uncle Kimura was having a mixed reaction. But he could not fully doubt the answer of his nephew who was mature enough and no longer needed to be worried over.
"Huh, just what kind of Player that does not know his own power," he answered while patting his forehead.
He reached into his pocket, took a key and said, "Seems like I can't stop you. Promise me, this will be the last one, and make sure you quickly and safely return, okay? "
He threw a motorcycle key to Renka.
"Yosh, take it easy uncle, I always keep my promises." Renka caught the key thrown by her uncle, and got on the Vespa.
At the back, there was a large container attached, with the Kimura Pizza logo, completed with phone number and slogan underneath.
The box served as a storage for delivery order.
It seems that the Vespa had been modified in such a way to facilitate Renka's work as a pizza deliveryman.
He started the engine, then waved his hand.
"I'm leaving," he said.
His head was protected by a helmet, national standard, so safety can be ensured on the highway.
"Be careful on the way," answered Uncle Kimura.
After a few seconds, the Vespa ridden by Renka seemed to had drifted away from the place, and on its way to the pizza orderer's house.
============
As long as he works as a pizza deliveryman, Renka never drives his Vespa exceeding 25 mph.
Slow and steady, Renka broke through the quiet night with the roar of his Vespa.
While riding his Vespa, he remembered his uncle's words again.
Indeed, the nights in Tokyo — or even the whole world — at this time were tranquill and quiet, but dangerous at the same time.
Like the saying that read as "the calm river drift people", we would never know what danger was lurking in the silence.
The thing that underlied the statement above was the existence of myths about terrible creatures from other worlds, who were unhesitant to kill humans that were were unlucky enough to meet them.
Renka himself believed in this, even though he had never had an encounter with them.
During this time, he always relied on his luck to deliver night orders.
Not because he was a Player with a strong Rune, but because he was a weak Player who never even knew how to awaken or use his strength.
Although at least, Renka knew a thing or two about the basic principles of Player and Rune.
Even with that fact, at this moment, he felt no fear at all.
"Breakers won't be interested in weak Players like me, right?"
That was what he thought to himself.
The Runes themselves were still not fully comprehened by humans for their complex nature.
So far, humans only understood the basic concepts of Rune and little tips to utilize it.
Humans regarded Rune as a fusion of two supernatural energies: Mana, the energy of the nature which entered and flow through the human body, along with Prana, raw energy from human body outflowing into the nature.
The mechanism was somewhat similar to breathing activity.
Theoretically, all humans had the potential to own and awaken their Rune.
However, to awaken the Rune, one must had a strong stimulus, desire, or emotion to awaken the 'core', the thing that melted Mana and Prana into one energy for the Rune.
The explanation on the diversity of Rune characteristics was that every human being had different personalities, motives, and natures.
All of the things mentioned above were all things that humans know about Runes. Outside of the aforementioned above, was still a mystery that had never been solved until now.
To visualize it, Renka was in a position where he only understood the theory, but was unable to practice it.
Renka himself knew he was a Player after he accidentally broke a glass he was holding.
His uncle accidentally saw it. Coincidentally, he had an acquaintance who was also a Player. After consulting with him, he mentioned that Renka could already be called a Player even though he could not utilize his Rune at will.
The incident about the broken glass was a leak about the potential that he had. He had the core thing, but there was no stimulus strong enough to awaken the potential Rune.
Renka himself didn't sweat too much about it. He was not interested in things like being a Player and such.
He did not want to be involved deeply with these problems.
Normal life was the only thing he wants.
VROOM VROOM VRRR …. CLACK.
His Vespa suddenly stopped.
The place where he abruptly stopped was a street between two sides of a park.
There were two possibilities.
But the first possibility was confirmed negative since Renka could see the indicator showed half-tank of gasoline was still remained.
With this, it must be the second cause.
The engine went down.
That old Vespa was often troublesome, but this was the time he experienced such misfortune at night.
"Damn it. That geezer never check-up his Vespa. " Renka thought inwardly while cursing his uncle's lazy behavior in checking his belongings' shape.
"Now, what should I do?" Renka got off the Vespa in confusion, then walked it while looking around the parks.
Nothing. all he could see was the children's playground on the left, and the relaxation park on the right.
Both parks were government programs to provide an infrastructure of relaxation in hope of reducing depression and suicide rates.
And the two parks were only separated by one road. The street where Renka was right now.
"Huft, the Goddess of Fortune is just not on my side," he sighed.
The last option he had was to walk his Vespa, hoping to find an open repair shop, though the possibility was almost impossible. Unless the workshop owner was ready to be the Breakers' appetizer.
"Speaking of which, since I managed to deliver the order safely that night, it feels like orders at night were blooming. Looks like this was also my fault that was too dependent on luck, "he grumbled.
Just for a few feet that he walked his Vespa, his footsteps stopped after hearing the faint sound behind. He could sense something was wrong.
The sound of footsteps, but not just one person, there were two people.
"Huh?"
Strangely, the sound of the footsteps of the second person was much louder than the first one.
As if signifying a difference in size between them. Big diference it was.
"What sound was it?" Renka thought as he looked around for the source of the sound.
One thing was certain, the occurence of the sound was not a good news for Renka, judging from heavy stomps. Especially at night.
Cold sweat began to flow from his temples.
If only the Vespa could compromise with the situation, he will immediately run away from that place, certainly.
Renka stopped frantically turning his head aroundafter he managed to find the source of the sound.
As he expected, the incident he had to witness using his eyes was not a good thing at all.
"P-Please help me !!" A woman shouted, running away from from a large creature pursuing her.
Renka suspected that the woman was around her twenties.
Judging from her clothes, it looked like she just came back from his workplace, late. It was strange considering the government should had limited office hours for office workers.
"GRAARAARGHH!" Having twice of its target in size, did not trouble it to race up with the target.
It has the male-humanoid appearance with pale purple skin and bulky posture as if it had consumed a couple pound of muscle steroids. On his hands, there was a big cleaver, ready to sever any flesh it would meet with.
"A woman ... and ... what kind of creature was that?" Renka's expression suddenly turned pale. He immediately set his Vespa stander, then hid behind it.
"Is that what people called as Breaker?" Renka thought while controlling his breath that suddenly ran erratic.
Truly, the thing he had just witnessed was not a good thing at all.
He tried to remain silent and calm so that his whereabouts were unknown. All he needed to do was hide.
However, there was something bothering him.
"Damn, that person is still alive, so why isn't my leg moving to help her?" Renka thought in his mind while clenching his fist.
The altruistic side within him encouraged him to immediately help her.
However, that side cannot win from the survival instinct every human owned in the genes.
"G-gah, remember ... you haven't even been able to control Mana or Prana yet ... It's still a thousand years too fast to try to help him ..."
Doubts filled him.
BAMM!
The woman fell, slumped to the ground.
Her legs tried to get up but seemed to be dislocated.
The Breaker who was chasing her began to slow his pace down. Slowly approaching the woman lying helplessly on the ground.
"Spare me! I, I never did anything to you !! L-Look, I also don't fight ... I, I beg ... forgive my life !!! " The woman screamed on top of her lungs while begging for she would be forgiven and released.
Despair seems to make her unable to think rationally and willing to do anything , as long as she could be saved.
Indeed, everyone would do the same when they were in her position.
However, what he faces now was something inhuman. It was a terrible creature that incomprehensible by the instincts, logics, or language of human.
#
Pathetic.
I couldn't bear to hear the desperate screams from the woman.
I still could do nothing but curse my uselessness.
"I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live, I want to live."
Those words always echo in my brain.
It seems like my instincts as a biological creature works to avoid unwanted events or events that threaten my life.
Oh sh*t, it seems like I really can't do anything but hide. Besides, the existence of a weak Player like me won't change anything, right?
I had to calm down.
I don't want to be heroic, I promised uncle to quickly return safely.
But...
Is survival from someone's spilled blood, was something praiseworthy?
Goddamn it! I don't know what else to choose.
I close my eyes and regained my breath, trying to rethink the decision I had to make.
#
After facing an inner conflict within himself, he clenched his fists.
"I won't be able to sleep peacefully if one life had to be lost tonight, Goddess of Fortune, I beg you. Please bless me once more some good luck!" thought Renka.
He was about to leave, but a voice that he had never expected suddenly shocked his eardrums.
ZRAAASSHH!
Too late. It's too late.
The giant blade of the Breaker swung fast and immediately cut the woman's stomach open.
The sound of blood splattering down broke the silence of the night. The thick red liquid splattered everywhere.
One drop of blood accidentally splashed at Renka's hair.
Renka's expression turned grim.
His fear of death rising sharply.
"D-Damn, is it my turn next ...?" Renka was deep in fear.
He's f*cked up.