Chapter 1: The Homeless who rolled into Another World

When I woke up, the chills in the early morning pierced me. The surroundings were still dim, the slides and swings were frosting.

This is Shinjuku Central Park.

“Fuaa-, seems like today too, I’ll need to try my best to collect food.”

I stretched my body and I then crawled out of the corrugated box that was my home.

Yes, I’m living my life as a homeless.

“Shinichi, I found a good thing in the trash can at the convenience store. You can eat it too.”

At my place, I’m most familiar with another homeless person –Shige-san. He has white beard on his face and he wears a tattered blue hat coupled with tattered brown clothes. It’s such shabby clothes that would make one truly look like a homeless. That said, I am the same. My face is covered with black beard and I am also wearing a tattered black shirt paired with white trousers.

Nowadays it’s fine to be homeless.

Shige-san approached me, threw a bag which came from the convenience store and then he sat down on my side. When I look inside the bag, I saw four convenience store rice balls.

“Shige-san, is this really ok? Isn’t this Shige-san’s food?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m already this old so my stomach can’t accept food in the morning. Besides, I won’t lose anything as I’m selling a favor you know.”

“My bad Shige-san. Next time, I’m going to offer you some sake.”

“Oh, that would make me happy. Sake is the best medicine for me.”

Shige-san is an old man who used to be a doctor. For some reason, both his wife and children died and his privately owned clinic was destroyed. Shige-san, who has lost his path, arrived at the place of the homeless. Since the homeless welcomed the lonely Shige-san, Shinjuku Central Park became his place from then on.

There are many homeless people here. Of course, some people say that they have run out of money, while others say that they are lonely. Everyone had a wound of his own and ended up here. And I am one of them.

I thanked Shige-san for the rice ball. As expected, C-chicken mayo is delicious. Convenience stores are really amazing.

“By the way, Shinichi. Can you listen to my story?”

“Sure. If it’s Shige-san’s matters, I’m all ears. Then, please lie down.”

With Shige-san lying face down, I press the acupuncture points on his back and waist.

“Aa-ah, as expected, Shinichi is good at pressing acupuncture points. I wonder if you should have opened a massage shop rather than running a company?”

“Yeah, I wish I had done that. However, I don’t have that energy anymore.”

I’m Shinichi Tanaka, currently 56 years old. Originally, I manage a large company. I have a wife and a child, but since I poured all my passion into the company, my family left me.

And the company I called the fruit of my life was taken away just like that. Because of another person’s mistake, I was dragged down by the representative director. I was fired, so to speak. I never imagined that I would be fired from the company I built myself. When I lost the company, I also lost everything. The acquaintances I knew also went away as soon as my money disappeared, there was no one left around. It’s indeed a laughable tale.

However, I wanted to make a comeback so I went to “Hello Work” and applied for a job. I worked as a part-timer and worked daily. I was laughed at by many because I was once a famous person.

And finally, I reached my limit…

I went to Tokyo to go somewhere far away, and I just kept running away without any destination. I’m already at my limit.

What happened to my life?

Is this the result of pouring everything into the company and sacrificing even my family?

Return my life! Give me back my life!

Then I finally arrived at the place where Shinjuku Central Park is. The homeless people there warmly welcomed me and listened to me in a friendly manner. Everyone understood my hardship. The homeless person, who I was laughing at from my luxury car, became the best person to understand me. That’s when I decided to be homeless. Now, I have no regrets in my life.

“By the way, Shinichi please hear me out. I felt weird since I got up today.”

“Weird feeling? Oh my-, Shige-san, have you grown senile?”

I joked.

“I-AM-ONLY 78 years old! I am not senile!”

Shige-san who’s on the ground flail in protest. Certainly, it is a little early for him to develop dementia. In that case, I wonder if it’s his supernatural sense. For a long time now, Shige-san has an ability to sense the supernatural. He’s too well known that’s why sometimes other people mistakenly talk to him. Sometimes, I can also see him drive away cats and dogs that I can’t see. Well, it’s also because of Shige-san that I became interested in supernatural stories.

“Then, what makes you feel weird?”

I asked as I pressed Shige-san’s shoulder blade with my finger. It seems that his blood flow is bad as his muscles are stiff.

“Oh, y-yes, t-there… that’s the spot, that’s what works best. Well, that’s what I’m going to talk about. After waking up this morning, I feel terrified, it felt sickening. It is also the first time I felt that.”

“Is it not Shige-san’s imagination?”

“I thought so too… but the atmosphere is strange. It feels like I’m being swallowed by a huge monster.”

“Monster huh…”

I massaged Shige-san’s back and looked up at the sky. It’s a cloudy sky today. It made me feel like it was about to rain. The low pressure must have made Shige-san feel that way. I decided to think so.

“Alright, the massage is over. How are you feeling?”

“Un, it’s excellent. As I thought, Shinichi should have opened a massage shop. Uhihihi”

Shige-san stood up slowly, rotating his neck and shoulders before leaving. After I sent him off, I also prepared to leave the park.

It’s a big mistake to think that homeless people just sleep. Most of our day is devoted to collecting food, which means that if we don’t collect food for a long time, we will not survive. Of course, we search and secure not only our food, but also our clothing and other things that will help us avoid getting sick.

Most of the time, I search from the garbage storage area but I also get some things like “free garbage” from shops we have a good relationship with. The easiest place to get it is from the convenience store. Over there, foods that can still be eaten were thrown away which is such a waste.

We try to get acquainted with the store clerk and the store manager and have them deal with their waste by giving it to us. Anyway, we will eat what they will throw away so it will not make trouble on the store.

We eat our “prey” by ourselves. Same as hunting. Each of us even have a territory and we ask help from strangers with proper courtesy. I don’t intend to claim human rights or dignity, but it is true that I live as a person. I want to say that we all have the right to live.

As I was “fishing” in the trash can of the store, I found a new bread in a bag.

“Is this the age of satiety? Haah-, there will also be an end to it…”

As I mumbled so, the ground began to shake.

“Ah, why an earthquake!?”

Then it was followed by a roar that I had never heard before. I, who had my back on the wall behind the alley, immediately rushed to Omotesando. (TL note: Omotesando “表参道” is a place.)

Something glowing red from the sky was pouring down. It hits the building and shatters it. Debris poured down the road and people began screaming and running away. Not only that. The buildings and roads from afar were destroyed by that “thing” that is still pouring down. A roaring sound echoes each time and the ground shakes.

I immediately understood what was happening.

“It’s a meteor…”

Fear crawled from my feet and reached my brain. Many people have already fled in front of me. Everyone cried and their expressions seemed to say that they don’t care about other people besides themselves.

“Gaaaaaaaaa!!”

I heard a loud scream.

When I turned to look at that area, a red and black wolf-like creature was attacking a woman. It’s a monster that would be about thirty meters long. I now doubted my eyes!

The wolf chewed on the woman, swallowed her flesh, breaking her bones with each bite and blood dripped over. Then the wolf starts to move again. It laid its fangs on the people who tried escape and inflate its stomach. From one at first, the number of wolves gradually increased. Now I can see two to three wolves.

What is this? What’s happening!!?

Being stunned, a man bigger than me hit my shoulder.

“Shinichi!  What are you doing!? Run away quickly!”

“Shige-san…?”

I then moved towards Shige-san. As we start running away from the back alley, the screams also went away.

“Shige-san, what’s going on here?!”

“I also don’t know! I thought that meteorites have suddenly fallen but monsters appear everywhere! Tokyo is over! We have to run away somewhere—”

Shige-san’s neck, which was only right in front of me, suddenly fell down on the ground. With a thud, his body fall to the ground and I could see his blood spreading in the asphalt.

“S-Shige-san?!!!”

I run towards Shige-san but he was already dead. As I was thinking of what had happened, I heard a sharp wind noise right behind me.

“Kuh!”

When I avoided it, a deep cut was made in the place where I was.

“Gugegege”

Turning to that voice, a strange creature was watching me. A black cloth was draped over its body and a pair of yellowish eyes were looking through the small slit. The green-skinned hand extending out from the cloth was holding a large sickle in the air.

It looks like a small Shinigami.

“Gugyaa!”

When the Grim Reaper shook his sickle, a utility pole in a distant place was sliced and it fell down. Sparks also scattered everywhere. There’s no doubt about it, it was the one who killed Shige-san!

I grasped an iron rod that has fallen on the ground, then I slashed towards the Shinigami.

How dare you!!! To Shige-san!…

“Gugyaagya!”

The Shinigami avoided the attack, it then sliced its sickle towards my neck.

“Uah…………”

My view rotates, and my thoughts sped up by ten times.

The images of my house and my family were played before me. Memories of elementary school, junior high school, high school, college –all of my student life were played. The smell, the sound, and the conversation are all reproduced like a video. One of the most beautiful women on the university campus –my wife. At that time we were so in love with each other…

But, why is she here at this moment?

My wife rushed to me and kissed me with a smile. Then a child was born. He is such a treasure to me. Moreover, he’s a boy. I thought of working for that child’s sake. I was willing to dedicate my everything to them but my wife and child left me. I had nothing left. I ran around trying to get my child back, but my wife and child were gone. Then I became more and more engaged in my work…

Stop it already!

Don’t remind me!

 I’m already… already…!

“I-, it hurts! uh-, pain?”

My butt hurts. The pain felt like I was struck butt naked.

“What the heck… oh-, ouch!”

When I rubbed my hips, I realized, I am not wearing anything? When I touched my body, I can’t feel any clothes either…

I’m fully naked!

Looking around, it was dim and the place looked like some passageway. The floor is like a stone pavement and time worn bricks covered the area.

Where is this?

I was at loss as I moved my back away from the wall.

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