Chương 43: Chapter 11 The Day the World Learned the Truth(Part 4)

The interview room looked exactly like something out of a crime drama. A table. A pair of chairs. One wall covered by a large mirror that was almost certainly one-way glass. People were watching. That much was obvious. Whether they were politicians, intelligence officers, or simply curious bureaucrats, I had no idea. Nor did I particularly care. Chiyoda sat across from me and opened a folder.

"Let's begin." The first hour was boring. Name. Age. Family. Employment history. Everything I'd already told Tachibana and everyone else. The government apparently enjoyed making people repeat themselves. Eventually, however, the questions reached the topic that actually mattered. Chiyoda folded his hands.

"What prompted your actions?" I leaned back slightly.

"Two things." He nodded. I continued.

"First, the Gate opens today."

"And second?"

"The city called Shuyougen." The room became noticeably quieter. Even Chiyoda's expression changed.

"The location you mentioned during the stream."

"Right."

"You believed a monster outbreak was imminent."

"I still do." Chiyoda tapped his pen against the table.

"Based on what?"

"A timetable." I shrugged.

"And a very bad feeling." His expression suggested that was not the answer he wanted. Unfortunately, it was the truth.

"The information available to me was incomplete."

"Yet you acted anyway." I laughed.

"Considering what happened after I reported everything, should I have waited?" The room grew silent. Neither of us needed to say it. The reports had gone nowhere. The warnings had been ignored. If I hadn't forced the issue into public view, nobody would have listened. Chiyoda finally exhaled.

"Tell me about Shuyougen." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"There isn't much to tell." I rubbed my chin.

"The distance was approximately 1, 154. 8 kilometers."

"You're certain?"

"As certain as I can be." He nodded slowly. Then paused. Then frowned. Something had occurred to him.

"What kind of building displayed the name?"

"A building?" I blinked. Then I blinked again. Wait. A building? The memory surfaced. The sign. The name. The structure. My eyes widened. At exactly the same moment, Chiyoda's widened too. We stared at one another. Neither of us liked where this was going.

"... A station."

"A station," Chiyoda agreed. The realization settled over the room like a lead blanket. Not a city. Not a country. A station. A train station. Suddenly the pronunciation made far more sense. Shuyougen. The name had sounded foreign at first. But if it wasn't foreign... If it had simply been mispronounced... I buried my face in my hands.

"Those idiots."

"Pardon?"

"Those absolute idiots." The language barrier had finally claimed another victim. I looked up.

"Akihabara." Chiyoda's expression darkened.

"You reached the same conclusion."

"Unfortunately." Neither of us seemed particularly happy about it. If the location was Akihabara— Everything changed. Chiyoda immediately pulled out his phone. A moment later he turned the screen toward me. A route map. Driving distance. My stomach dropped. 1, 154. 8 kilometers. Exactly.

"... I'm going to strangle those translators."

"Please don't."

"No promises." For a brief moment, that was the least terrifying problem in the room. Then Chiyoda asked the question that mattered.

"If Akihabara is the location..." His voice remained calm. Professional. Controlled.

"What happens if the Gate overflows?" The answer came easily. Far too easily. I had been thinking about it for days.

"The city falls." Silence. Nobody interrupted. Nobody argued. So I continued.

"The monsters you've seen so far are resistant to conventional firearms." Chiyoda nodded.

"We've reviewed the footage."

"Then you already know." The Brutes. The Three-Eyes. The regeneration. The durability. The speed.

"We might kill some with explosives." I shrugged.

"Maybe heavy anti-armor weapons."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe." The distinction mattered. Because nobody actually knew. Not yet.

"If a hundred monsters emerge at once, Tokyo loses." The words felt absurd. Impossible. And yet I believed them completely. The room behind the mirror remained silent. Listening. Calculating. Panicking. Probably all three. Chiyoda's face had become noticeably paler.

"What about clearing the Gate beforehand?" I shook my head.

"Temporary solution."

"Explain."

"Even if we clear Akihabara, another Gate will eventually overflow." I leaned forward. The chair creaked beneath me.

"This isn't a local problem." It wasn't. That was the point. Everyone wanted a single crisis. A single location. A single solution. Reality wasn't being that kind.

"The Gates are everywhere." The room remained silent.

"Then what do you recommend?" Finally. The question I'd been waiting for. Not disbelief. Not interrogation. Action.

"More people." Chiyoda frowned.

"Civilians?"

"Everyone." His expression immediately tightened. As expected. I continued anyway.

"People need Classes."

"They'll die."

"Some will." The answer tasted bitter. But it was true.

"If they do nothing, more will die." Nobody spoke. Because there was no comforting version of the future. Only varying degrees of disaster. I leaned back again. The cigarette I'd been craving all morning suddenly felt very far away. Humanity had spent thousands of years becoming weak. Not physically. Civilizationally. We had traded claws for tools. Fur for houses. Instinct for infrastructure. And now? Now all of that was being challenged. The old rules were returning. Survival. Adaptation. Strength.

The fundamentals. I glanced toward the mirror. Toward the people watching from the other side. Toward those who would make the decisions. Then I smiled.

"If you want a religious analogy..." Chiyoda sighed. That probably meant he already hated where this was going. I continued anyway.

"On the third day, the dead returned." The room froze. A few people behind the glass shifted. Good. They were paying attention. I pointed toward the table.

"Now humanity gets to choose." My smile widened slightly.

"Do we spend the seventh day resting?" Or—"Do we celebrate Halloween in October?" The silence afterward lasted nearly ten seconds. Then Chiyoda closed the folder. Slowly. Carefully. Like a man trying not to acknowledge an incoming migraine.

"... Let's take a break."

"Excellent." I stood immediately.

"Can I smoke now?"

"Go ahead." Permission granted. At last. I stepped into the waiting area and conjured a small flame over my fingertip. The cigarette ignited. Mochida appeared instantly. Like an emergency response team specifically assigned to stop me from setting government property on fire.

"Put that out!"

"What?"

"The fireball!"

"Oh." Fair point. The smoke detectors probably wouldn't appreciate magical combustion. I dismissed the flame. Mochida visibly relaxed. Then she hesitated.

"... Your family has been informed." I paused. For the first time all day, that got my full attention.

"They know I'm alive?"

"Yes." Relief washed over me. Not complete relief. But enough.

"Good." Mochida studied me for a moment. Then smiled. A strange expression. Almost amused.

"You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"The reaction." I frowned.

"What reaction?" She stared at me. Then slowly sat down in Chiyoda's empty chair. The look on her face reminded me of someone preparing to explain basic arithmetic to a particularly stubborn child.

"The stream." Ah. That again.

"What about it?" Mochida took a deep breath. Then pointed directly at me.

"You." I blinked.

"... Me?"

"Yes. You." That was concerning.

"Specifically?"

"Your entrance." Now I was even more confused.

"My entrance?"

"You smiled." I stared. She stared back. Several seconds passed. Then I pointed at myself.

"People watched an expedition into another world."

"Yes."

"They watched monsters."

"Yes."

"They watched actual magic."

"Yes."

"And the thing that went viral..." Mochida nodded.

"... was me smiling?" She covered her face. The woman looked physically pained.

"You have absolutely no idea how attractive you are." The room exploded into laughter behind the mirror. Someone actually choked. I heard it. Clear as day. My soul immediately attempted to leave my body.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes." Apparently that argument was unwinnable. Which was deeply unfair. Mochida leaned back and sighed.

"The clip spread first."

"Clip?"

"The smile." I wanted to die. Again.

"The internet shared it." She counted on her fingers.

"Then television." Another finger.

"Then newspapers." Another.

"Then international media." Another.

"Then social media." Another.

"Then everyone else." I stared blankly. Surely she was exaggerating. Nobody cared that much. Right?... Right? Mochida looked directly into my eyes. She was not exaggerating. For the first time since entering the Gate— I felt genuine fear. Not of monsters. Not of death. Not of government agencies. But of the internet. And somewhere far away, beyond government offices and television studios, beyond Tokyo and beyond Japan itself— the world had started paying attention.