“… This is…”

If it was a fairytale, or if it was a fantasy world, or even a game world, the scene should end with the heroes returning home after a triumphant win, basked in the congratulations of their people, showered in praise, fame and fortune alike.

But it was no fairytale. What awaited us back in the village was not something you could even call “living conditions”.

Corpses lay about. Some were luckier than others that they only suffered from blunt force, while most of them… they were more “parts” than “people”. Arms and legs caught in the broken, fallen branches. Heads rolled around or buried under rocks. Blood stained the grass so much that even when they had dried hours ago, I could still smell the scent of metal.

Even the trees weren’t safe. On the ground, logs and stumps were the only things that we could see. With each step we took, a rustling sound of leaves echoes in the air.

“All of this… was because of that monster?” Yamabuki stuttered.

It was only reasonable. The long-range storm that it had caused from the start was not something you could just dodge away from a distance. Its effect was massive enough in scale to cover everything in its path, so much that we could only avoid it by moving forward instead of away. The further you were from it, the more its destructive force would be.

I let out a sigh. There was nothing that we could do—after all, going up against that thing was akin to preventing a natural disaster.

“Can you two put me down?” I asked. “On a stump preferably. I don’t wanna lie down just yet.”

“Yakushi-kun, you want to… rest here?”

“Well, where else could we rest? This is… or, I guess, was the only remaining Mujin village, right?”

“Yeah, I know, but…”

“Sure thing.” Before Yamabuki could argue further, Aozaki had already dropped my arm from his shoulder and made himself comfortable in another spot nearby.

“Blue!” Yamabuki scolded.

“The kid is right, you know,” answered the man in blue. “Nothing else alive anymore, so why bother? It’s not like we can get a better resting spot. And besides, I’m used to sitting amongst corpses anyway.”

“I… Fine. You boys win.” With a sigh, she dropped my remaining arm as well and sat down.

“So, what do we do now?” It was the first question that all of us asked at once.

“Let’s start by exchanging information first, shall we?” Aozaki suggested. “I know you want to learn a lot of things, Yakushi, but…”

“Oh, no. I’m fine actually,” I answered in an instant. “If you want to know anything about me, I’m willing to answer it.”

With the two’s nods of approval, I started to recount my story to them. About the fact that I was an otherworlder, my encounter with Akari, the Dragon God fragment disguising as a “system” in my mind, Midorikawa’s betrayal and final expectation towards us, and Akari’s sacrifice.

The two of them were silent. They probably didn’t know how to react to all of it, and I wouldn’t blame them. After all, if I wasn’t the only person who had lived through all of it, I wouldn’t have believed anything either.

However, in the end, they were surprisingly willing to take in the facts. Or at least, what mattered to them.

“That does make sense, actually,” Aozaki was the first to speak up. “From what you’ve told us, your “Japan” is a lot similar to my Ryugashi, if we don’t count the technological difference. I guess that was the Dragon God’s way to familiarize your body to the inhabitants of this world—the fact that you gained Transformation instead of Metamorphosis, I mean.”

“But to think that in the end, our prophecy from generations ago was self-fulfilled…” muttered Yamabuki.

“That’s why I was trying to stop Red,” Aozaki sighed. “I told you, right? I was there to witness the whole fall of Ryugashi. I know how dangerous blindly believing in some prophecy would lead you to.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Ryugashi…” I mumbled. From the sound of Aozaki’s descriptions, it looked like an Asian-inspired region, if not just Japan like he said. My gut was telling me that getting there would be the key to solve the mess that we were in.

“How about going to Ryugashi as our next destination?” I asked.

My proposal, however, was immediately rejected. “Impossible,” replied Aozaki. “Ryugashi is separated from here via a giant ocean. It’s not somewhere you can just choose to come and go as you please. I was washed here by the stormy seas, and I’m certain neither of you would want to experience that, right?”

Both of us nodded.

“Ryugashi will be our eventual destination, I agree. But not now. You said that the sealed part here was what? The leg, right?”

“Left leg, yes,” I nodded.

“So there should be at least four more parts,” Yamabuki commented. “Right leg, right arm, left arm and head.”

“Five. You missed the torso.” Aozaki corrected.

“Right.”

Realizing that it was my chance, I said my piece on the matter:

“So, since we have nowhere to go anyway, I’d like to propose that we travel around the world to other lands. We get a place to stay, and we can either warn the rest about their impending crisis, or stop them ourselves. What says you?”

“It’s what I had in mind too, but why the sudden interest?” Asked Aozaki. “No offense, Yakushi, but from your story, I don’t consider you a hero type.”

“I’m not. I just… want to honor Green’s effort. Even if what he did was wrong, he did really care about everyone around him, and tried to shoulder responsibilities in his own ways. Even him being taken over was within his expectations, as he wanted us… or perhaps, me, to be the one to put an end to him when it went wrong.”

“… I see,” Aozaki gave a nod and patted me on the shoulder. “Then I have no objections.”

“Well, I was going to object,” replied Yamabuki. “But… I can’t fault you for wanting to honor him. I was both Red and Green’s childhood friend, after all. If anything, their legacy should have been for me to carry on. But…”

Patting on my other shoulder, Yamabuki let out a smile.

“I’ll leave those idiots’ will to you, Yakushi-kun. Count me in.”

“Good, then we’re all in agreement.” Aozaki gave a satisfying nod. “We’ll rest for the day, and once all of our injuries have recovered, we’ll make our journey. How does that sound?”

“Agreed.”

With everything said and done, the three of us set up camp and salvaged whatever was left in the disaster field for a home-cooked meal. It wasn’t much—just some bruised berries and boiled water—but for us, they were enough to get by.

Night fell. When the darkness engulfed the scene, and I had confirmed that both of them were asleep, I made my way to a corner with privacy.

“Open ‘Background story’.” I muttered, raising my hand forward.

As I expected, a holographic screen appeared in the air in front of my hand, and on it showed the words that I wanted to see—finally, I could get away from that annoying voice buzzing in my head:

[Play as a Hunter and unite the six realms! Nimushi, the rainforest of the insects. Hachuumi, the blazing desert of reptiles. Kitamono, where mammals rule the world. Uetori, the airborne utopia of avians. Shitakana, the deep seas of all fish. Ryugashi—the mythical land of legends. For each of these realms lie a treasure unknown to mankind, and by completing them all, any wish shall be granted! So what are you waiting for? Take up your weapons, gain power through the monsters you hunt, and claim what is rightfully yours!]

I hadn’t told them everything that I knew, this being the main reason. Considering that it was the Dragon God fragment posing as a system within me, this was more than likely a set-up to revive the God. However…

“Open ‘Inventory’.”

Another window appeared before me, within were three items.

[Red Demon. Type: Armor (equippable).]

[Red-White Twin Swords. Type: Weapon (dual daggers) (equippable).]

[Left Leg Of The Dragon God. Type: Hidden Treasure (equippable, unremovable).]

“Equip ‘Left Leg Of The Dragon God’.”

A small gust of wind covered just my left leg, and as I expected, on my leg was now a single armored boot that went to my thigh, its verdant shine only added to the sharp edges on its tip and base. But more importantly, I could feel my blood flowing faster than ever before, while throughout my left leg was a cool, almost chilling sensation. It was as if my leg itself was wrapped in wind.

“Unequip ‘Left Leg Of The Dragon God’.”

Following my order, the boot disappeared, and on the inventory window, it showed again.

“So I was right. The ‘unremovable’ part likely just means I can’t throw it away. And it does seem like after it was defeated, the thing had lost all of its sentience.”

In other words, if I could kill them, then the Dragon God parts would be nothing more than mere objects for me to use—items, so to speak.

And if everything in the background story was true…

If by achieving all of the Dragon God parts can truly grant me a wish…

I’m sorry, younger me. But I’m not going to suffer all my life for my sins.

I could bring them all back. I could fix everything. I could even save everyone. And to achieve it, I would be willing to do anything.

Even using the same people that had brought me out of my darkness.