"Hey, Lukas? What's up, man? You look nervous. Do you happen to want the doujinshi back? I don't mind, take it." Philip tried to give Lukas the bag, but Lukas shook his head. Then he turned and looked at Philip.
"We have to get out of here." He said.
"Hm?" Philip tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? We just got here." He complained. But Lukas just took his hand and started to pull him out of the building.
"Hey, hey, what's up, man? Stop it." Philip tried to fight back, but Lukas was much stronger than he was. After being dragged out, Lukas continued to pull Philip away from that place.
The countdown continued in his mind.
"What's gotten into you? You're not acting normal. I left my stuff at the event!" Philip started to get irritated, but Lukas didn't care. After they got far enough away, Lukas looked into Philip's eyes.
"You need to go home; it's not good to stay here. I'm leaving too."
"First, you explain to me exactly what is going on! Why have you suddenly decided to go crazy?"
"A portal."
"Portal? But there aren't any portals around here. Besides, they don't usually appear in places like this."
"A portal will appear here in less than nine minutes."
"Huh? Man, you need to calm down..." Philip started walking toward the event. Lukas looked at his back and then ran up to him.
After that, he took Philip by the shoulders and pressed him against the wall.
"I'm trying to save your life, so you better listen to me, understand? You may think I'm going crazy, but at least do what I'm asking you to do." Lukas was trembling, and Philip noticed this.
His breathing was harsh, leaving Philip extremely confused and frightened.
'Is he telling the truth? But how would he know that? No, he must have a fever or something.'
"Listen, Lukas... You're not well; I think you'd better go home. How about you come back here tomorrow?"
"... You. Why don't you believe me?"
"You know, I believe you, but..." Philip gave a slightly uncomfortable smile. "It's just that you're not acting normal. Plus, you're starting to scare me. What happened to you in the last few days?"
"?!" Lukas heard that and felt his brain throbbing once again. He looked towards the event and saw all those casually entering and leaving. No one imagined what was going to happen.
'A system in my head tells me when a portal will open? Who would believe this madness? Am I some hero to warn everyone? And is that going to happen?'
Lukas took a deep breath and then let Philip go.
"You hurt me, man. Go home, text me when you're feeling better." Philip turned and walked toward the event. Lukas watched him, and this time didn't stop him.
Then he turned to leave the place as quickly as possible.
[ The portal will open in - 7:32...7:31...7:30 ]
Using all his speed, he ran away from that place towards the subway. Once there, he got into the first he could find, not knowing where it was going.
After sitting down, he began to hyperventilate.
[ You left the affected area ]
[ Cleaning up ]
[ Cleaning complete ]
"Cleaning up? Whatever." Lukas placed his back on the subway seat and then closed his eyes.
At that moment, Philip's face appeared in his mind, and several disturbing possibilities and images began to frighten him.
The building was destroyed, monsters eating people, hunters approaching and noticing that it was already too late. It was as if Lukas was having a prediction of the future.
Of course, Philip was among the dead.
Lukas clenched his fist and felt the last bead of sweat drip down his face.
"That idiot." He punched the seat next to him, startling anyone nearby.
####
"What's gotten into him?" After returning to the event, Philip picked up the bag with the doujin and put it in the same place his costume was.
He had rented a small closet to store his things since he planned to buy many items. Many people also did the same. There was a counter where a receptionist attended to you, and there were several lockers inside.
After putting away the bag with the doujin, Philip grabbed his wallet and walked around the entire event.
The first thing he bought was some dangos.
[ The portal will open in - 4:32 ]
While eating, he approached a few girls, but they completely ignored him.
"If Lukas were here..." Philip said as he put the last Dango in his mouth.
[ The portal will open in - 3:20 ]
"Wait, is that a pinball machine? It's been a while since I've seen one of those; I had no idea that still existed."
Philip approached and put a 50 cent coin in the machine. After strange music played, the game started.
[ The portal will open in - 1:09 ]
Outside, clouds in the sky began to appear. Within seconds, the sky was dark, causing people to rush inside to escape the heavy rain that was to follow.
At the same time, a strong cold wind began to blow. The nearby trees were swaying wildly, and scattered leaves were everywhere.
Dark clouds began to swirl just above the event as if a tornado had appeared.
"Look at that."
"A tornado? But the weather forecast said it wouldn't rain today."
"I think we'd better get out of here. Isn't it dangerous?"
Some people outside began to get nervous and frightened at the strange whirlpool appearing in the clouds. Thinking it was a tornado, people ran inside and then the event staff closed all the doors.
With worried looks on their faces, people looked through the glass door.
And after a few seconds, the wind stopped completely.
[ The portal is opening ]
[ The user are outside the affected area ]
After the wind disappeared, there was an eerie silence. People looked outside while remaining silent. Everyone seemed to have realised that something strange was happening.
At that exact moment, a single black car drove down the street.
And as it passed by, something fell from the sky, landing on the car.
The car was crushed by a giant black-skinned monster falling from the sky. And after looking at the many people looking at it through the event glass, the beast roared.
And amidst cries of despair, monster and more monsters began to fall from the sky.
####
"Hm? Is there something going on?" While playing the pinball machine, Philip heard some screams that caught his attention. Putting the game aside, he walked towards the entrance of the event.
As he approached, he saw people desperately screaming as they ran away. They were all being escorted by one of the event guards. There were 10 of them in total. One of them was escorting the people, two were guarding the entrance so that no monsters could enter, and the rest were waiting for the right moment to act.
They had created protections using their skills.
"You've got to be kidding me." Looking at that scene, Philip soon remembered what Lukas had talked about.
He quickly ran to the lockers and grabbed his things. Perhaps it was a foolish decision since soon after he left that place, the ceiling above his head began to shake. He could hear some strange roars and some banging.
Feeling every hair on his body shiver and his heart racing, Philip tried to run towards the place where all the people were being evacuated. But just after he ran for less than 10 meters, the ceiling cracked.
Behind Philip, a humanoid creature almost three meters high cracked the floor as it fell.
Philip looked back, and his eyes widened. His whole body was shaking, his legs faltered, and he could no longer run.
The monster looked back, and Philip's eyes met its eyes. Unlike the boy who had black eyes of an ordinary colour, the monster's eyes had an extremely eye-catching purple colour.
Its face was very similar to a dragon's, and the body was identical to a Minotaur. Philip used to see these monsters in some articles about dungeons.
The monster, in addition, also had small horns above its head and tiny wings on its back that was indeed not made for flying.
"A 3rd class demon?" Being someone who had a lot of knowledge about all this crazy "fantasy" he was living, Philip turned pale.
Feeling his legs shaking, Philip fell to the ground as he watched the demon approach showing its human-like teeth. His reaction amused the demon.
Philip tried to crawl away, but something in the environment did not allow him to move very well.
'Is it the fear? Shit!' Philip looked to the side and could see the entrance to the event. Nine guards were protecting the almost wholly evacuated building. Two of them created barriers in front of the door while the others were trembling and preparing for unforeseen events.
'Those idiots, it won't do any good. The walls can be broken easily, and these barriers. Shit, why is this happening?'
No one had noticed the demon's presence that had already invaded the building.
Philip tried to shout for help, but his voice wouldn't come out.
The demon, maintaining its smile, walked towards him. Philip prayed in his mind; he had at least a little hope to escape this situation with some injuries. But his hopes vanished a few seconds later. A black lightning bolt destroyed the protection and severely damaged the walls of the building.
The guards near the door were also hit; they were "charred". Their bodies fell to the ground, their skin had turned black, and their clothes and body hair had disappeared. It was not a pleasant sight.
The 3rd class demons outside commemorated what had happened. They then marched toward the building.
'Why are they targeting this place?' Philip thought as he struggled to get up.
The remaining guards, who were all medium-strength guards, were quickly massacred. Some of them were 'burned' with magic, and others with only the use of physical force by the demons.
Philip felt tears streaming down his face, and his underwear and pants were soaked with urine.
Philip cried like a frightened child as he watched the demon approach him. The regret of not listening to Lukas was the only thing he felt before his body was pressed against the ground by the demon's foot.