Only I know that this world will end – 050 | Sousaku – 創作

Beyond the conclusion

When Akira woke up, he immediately saw an unfamiliar white ceiling.
The next thing that reached his ears was someone's screams and commotion mixed with regular mechanical sounds. From what he could hear in the leaked information, it seemed that it was people who were injured in the fight against the monsters.
Akira turned his attention to his surroundings, listening to the sounds of clattering and running outside the door.

It was a small room.

The size of the room was about six tatami mats. The room appeared to have only a small TV stand and a washbasin provided. A breeze blowing in through the slightly opened window was flapping the half-open light pink curtains, and the sunlight shining in warmly illuminated the room.
If one looked closer, one could see several IV bags hanging on a rack and a movable EKG monitor. Apparently, it was this monitor that was emitting the regular mechanical sound.
As he was thinking about this in a daze, Akira finally noticed that his own mouth was covered by an oxygen mask.

(……This place is.)

He tried to raise his body and put all his strength into it, but he could not muster any strength at all.
Letting out a breath, Akira had no choice but to sink his body into the bed.

(It looks like a hospital somewhere.)

How much time has passed since then? he wondered.
From the sunlight streaming into the room, it seemed clear that it was daytime.

(I wonder if there was ever a place in this world that was safe from the monsters that swarmed.)
And then, just when Akira thought that.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a woman entered the hospital room.
The woman approached Akira with a weary, exhausted look on her face and sat down on a crumpled pipe stool, making it creak.

"Phew…………"

Her exhaled breath was heavy.
As Akira stared at her, his eyes suddenly met those of the woman.

"――――――."

Immediately, the woman's eyes widened.
Apparently, she did not expect Akira to be awake.
Her wide-open eyes began to moisten, and eventually, her mouth broke into a gentle smile.

"What, you're awake?"

The woman who opened her mouth and addressed Akira was Nanase Nao.

"When did you wake up? I was worried……you know? "

While saying this, Nao must have noticed Akira's gaze as he stared at her.
She looked tired, but also embarrassed, and then she opened her mouth with a small smile.

"I'm sorry I look like this. The world is in a lot of trouble right now."

Nao's clothes were frayed and smeared with blood everywhere as she muttered this. Her hair, which had always been well-groomed, was disheveled, and if one looked closely, there was some blood on it. There was no need to think about which blood it was.

"…………I know."

Akira said, addressing Nao's words.
The words were terribly raspy, perhaps because it had been a long time since he had spoken out loud.

"What has become of this world? What's happening to us? Everything, all of it…… I know it very well."

At these words, Nao's eyes widened again in surprise.

"That's…… Those words…………"

Nao hesitantly interjected.

But Nao's mouth immediately tightened as if she had made up her mind, and then she looked Akira straight in the eye.

"That has something to do with the fact that you were fighting that monster, doesn't it? "

It was more of a confirmation, much like a certainty.
Akira nodded slowly in response.

"Yeah…… That's right. I knew that monsters would appear in that place. And I knew that said monster would eventually kill everyone who lived in this city."
"So, you stopped it before it could happen? "
"That's right."
"I see."

Nao muttered then closed her mouth.
Then, for a while, Nao did not say anything.
Akira continued to stare at the expression on her face, and eventually, after a pause, he opened his mouth.

"……Nao-san."

Slowly, Akira said.

"I need to tell you something."

Nao nodded quietly to Akira's words.
It was as if she had been waiting for Akira to speak up.

"It might be a little long, though…… This is certainly what I experienced, and it's all I know."

Akira spoke out, and then he told Nao, in an eloquent tone, everything that had happened to him so far.
Nao did not say anything while Akira spoke.
Just a calm face, she finished listening to all of Akira's words, and then, eventually, she slowly exhaled.

"………………I see. Time leap, huh?"
"Do you believe me? "
"Are you lying? "
"No…… But when we talked about this before, you were so quick to accept it, Nao-san……"

Nao laughed at those words.
Nao laughed for a bit more, and then, with her mouth still open, she remarked.

"That's right. You and I, how long do you think we've known each other? Just as you know some things about me, I know some things about you. You're not the kind of guy who would joke or lie in a situation like this."

Nao then looked into Akira's eyes.

"Thank you. Right now, at this moment, at this point. I'm alive today because of you."

Gently, Nao patted Akira on the head.
Those were gentle touches.
There was a pleasant warmth there as if to say thank you for everything you have done so far.

"I'm sure it was hard."

That warmth made Akira's eyes water at once.
Akira finally understood that all the hardships, fears, and pains he had gone through repeatedly were not meaningless after all.

"……m…………yes."

In a small tone, Akira nodded.
There were no words.
Instead of words, tears just poured down.
Akira then wiped his eyes and exhaled slowly, his lips quivering.

"……But it's not over. This is just the beginning."

Even as they spoke, somewhere in this world, "someone" was dying and being eaten by monsters.
Now that the monsters have appeared, the future that this world will follow was a gradual destruction.
No matter your level or skill, survival in this world came with unimaginable harshness.
Death was always next to one another, and it was not uncommon to lose one's life at the drop of a hat.

――――That, Ichijou Akira already knew.

"……Nao-san. How long has it been since I was knocked unconscious? What has happened to the world?"

The Minotaur was no more. As long as that monster was gone, this world must have changed in some small way.
So first of all, he needed to know about the world.
The monsters appeared, and the everyday life of this world was destroyed.
And then struggle to survive.
Until the destruction of the world that would eventually come.

――――I already know that if I don't give up, I can change that future someday.

ToC