My name is Naoya Kanzaki. I’m 15 years old. Aside from my love for games, I’m just an average high school freshman.
It was already late at night. I got into bed.
Before going to sleep, I decided to play a little game, so I grabbed my handheld gaming device from under the covers. I started a new action RPG. Until then, I had been stuck playing “First Final,” a really bad game, for thousands of hours, so it had been a long time since I played a new game.
I finished creating my character and started the game. I moved through a linear cave, pushing open a door at the end with both hands. Suddenly, the screen brightened, and a vast land spread out before me.
“Wow…”
For a handheld game, the graphics were surprisingly beautiful. After getting used to the poor graphics of that terrible game, “First Final,” I was moved by the quality of this new game’s visuals, which I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Hm?”
I moved the game’s left analog stick and looked around. It didn’t take long to notice something.
To my left, there was a cave. In front of it lay a giant golden dragon, coiled up and sleeping. It looked extremely powerful.
This had to be a monster meant to kill players on their first try. My instincts as a heavy gamer told me so. Since I had just created my character and was at the entrance of the cave, it was probably content that had been prepared for later playthroughs.
A beginner player might not think twice and attack this giant dragon. But my character was level 1 with basic equipment. There was no way I could defeat such a massive dragon. More experienced players would understand this instinctively.
So, what would a truly advanced player like me do?
Of course, I’d “fight!”
…
“Ugh! This guy’s ridiculously strong!”
Even a single hit from the dragon would instantly kill me. Using every ultimate player skill I had, I dodged the dragon’s various attacks. But my damage was minimal—only 1 point per hit. Even after fighting for about 5 minutes, the dragon’s health bar had barely moved. But it was slowly getting chipped away.
The drowsiness disappeared instantly. “Hahaha…” My excitement grew higher and higher, and with it, my senses became sharper. My input accuracy improved with every second.
“Yeehah!”
By around midnight, I was shouting alone in my room.
The next morning, I was walking through a residential area, heading to school.
“Yawn…”
I rubbed my sleepy eyes with my fingers.
I had definitely played too much last night. I never thought it would take 5 hours to whittle down that dragon’s HP… It was so fun that I lost track of time.
I was sleep-deprived. Ugh, I’m so tired…
Phew…
I sighed and trudged toward the main street when suddenly, an enormous explosion rang out.
The air shook violently. A strong shockwave nearly knocked me off my feet.
Plumes of smoke rose into the air. Beyond them, I saw it.
The police station building was more than half destroyed.
“What’s going on? A terrorist attack?”
The words slipped out of my mouth.
Chaos ensued around me. I stood there for a moment, staring at the burning police station.
I pulled out my smartphone to check the time.
“Crap.”
I was going to be late for school.
I hurried to school.
When I entered the classroom, it was much noisier than usual. My classmates were gathered in groups, looking at news sites on their phones, discussing something with tense expressions.
“Oh, Naoya-kun, good morning. This is serious!”
The one who spoke to me was my childhood friend and neighbor, Hanari Hayase. She wore glasses, and her brown hair, slightly lighter than usual, was in a short bob cut. Lately, she had grown a lot, especially in terms of her chest. As she grew older, her looks were improving rapidly, and she was becoming quite popular among the boys.
“The explosion at the police station, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s not just that. It looks like police stations, military bases, and even the National Diet Building all exploded suddenly across Japan.”
“What’s going on?”
Could there really be a group capable of pulling off a terrorist attack on such a scale?
I pulled out my phone and checked a live news video stream.
“Disaster is striking. Mysterious dungeons have appeared all over Japan. While investigations are still ongoing, it’s reported that the dungeons resemble mazes, and monsters like those from fantasy stories are said to live inside!”
The reporter was speaking in front of the burning National Diet Building with a tense look on his face.
“What the hell is going on?”
I muttered under my breath. I checked the name of the news channel. It was definitely a well-known major media site, so I didn’t think they’d be spreading a hoax for amusement.
Then it happened.
“Huh…”
I stiffened when I looked at Hanari.
“Eh? Naoya-kun, is something wrong?”
“You’re glowing.”
“Wha—?”
Hanari, sitting next to me, looked at her body in surprise.
Her whole body was glowing gold. It lasted for about 10 seconds before returning to normal.
“What was that just now?”
Hanari stared at me with wide eyes.
“How should I know?”
Just as I answered, similar shocked voices rose from all around the classroom.
Everyone’s body was glowing gold. I, too, wasn’t exempt. My body glowed for a moment, just like everyone else’s, and then it returned to normal.
Strange things began to happen almost immediately.
“What is this?”
The first to speak up was Tsuchiya from the judo club.
Tsuchiya usually carried a hand grip to train his grip strength, and now the hand grip was flattened and bent, unable to withstand his grip.
“Uahhh! This is amazing!”
The next to speak was Kubota from the track team, who does the high jump.
When Kubota jumped, his hands easily reached the high ceiling of the classroom. It looked like he barely kicked the floor, yet he jumped with unbelievable force.
Other people also experienced strange changes.
A student from the baseball team threw a ball, and it disappeared into the sky at an impossible speed.
A wrestler easily lifted a 200kg barbell with one hand.
A girl from the track team who did sprints ran across the schoolyard at an unimaginable speed.
As for me, what kind of change did I experience…?
From what I could see, there was no obvious change. Maybe it’s because I was in the “go-home” club?
“Hanari, did you experience any changes in your body?”
After seeing the series of changes in my classmates, I asked her.
“Hmm, I’m not sure…”
Hanari shook her head.
Hanari’s father was on a long overseas business trip, and her mother worked as a nurse. Since her parents were often away, Hanari took care of her two younger sisters and did housework. Because of that, she wasn’t part of any club.
On the other hand, I loved playing games at home, so I was part of the “go-home” club.
After three days, we began to understand a lot of things.
Police stations, Self-Defense Forces bases, and the National Diet building had exploded, and many casualties had occurred. The perpetrators were still completely unknown.
It was clear that the security situation was worsening.
There were not enough police officers. Many had been injured or killed in the explosions at the police stations, and occasionally, monsters like the ones from fantasy stories began appearing in the town. There weren’t many monsters, but the police were busy dealing with them.
It seemed the monsters came from dungeons that suddenly appeared in Japan. Dozens of these RPG-like dungeons had been confirmed all over Japan.
We also began to understand the meaning behind the glowing bodies. It seemed that people who received “divine protection” had their bodies glow. The “protection” was given mostly to younger people. Anyone between 15 and 20 years old could receive it. People outside of that age range received it less frequently. It was rare for someone over 30 to receive divine protection.
It appeared that the “protection” often related to what the person had been most passionate about before receiving it. Of course, there were exceptions…
People who had been passionate about studying received the “Study” protection and had a significant boost in their grades. Those who played guitar in a band received the “Guitar” protection and could play incredibly difficult songs with ease, something that would be impossible for a beginner.
About a week later, someone who had received the “Appraisal” protection came to school. He was a man in his mid-20s, wearing a suit. He was going around the school, appraising the “protections” of the students on government orders.
One by one, the students were appraised.
The baseball team members received the “Baseball” protection. The judo club members received the “Judo” protection, which was easy to understand.
It turned out that my childhood friend and neighbor, Hanari, received the “Housework” protection.
“Hmm, I thought so! Lately, I’ve been able to clean and do laundry so easily. I can also cook really delicious meals now!” Hanari said, smiling happily. It was good to see that she was pleased.
“Next, Kanzaki.”
The teacher, standing next to the man who had the “Appraisal” ability, called my name.
“Yes.”
I stood up and walked toward the podium.
Until then, there hadn’t been any noticeable changes in my body. But since my body had glowed, I was sure I had received some kind of “protection.” I was a bit nervous, wondering what kind of protection I had received.
When I stood in front of the man with the “Appraisal” ability, he turned both of his palms toward me and muttered something that sounded like a spell.
There was a slight pause…
“Th-this is…”
The man looked at me, dumbfounded.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, still nervous.
“…Your protection is [RPG ‘First Final’]. “
“Huh?”
“Your protection is [RPG ‘First Final’]. “
The entire classroom erupted in laughter.
“‘First Final’? That famous awful game, right?”
“The ‘divine protection’ is a game…?”
“And it’s not that you’re good at all games, just that horrible game… What a terrible protection!”
“What a huge fail! A ‘protection’ related to a terrible game? How cruel! Hahaha!”
Laughter echoed throughout the classroom.
Hey, come on, they’re laughing too much! Sure, it’s a huge fail, and it’s really bad, but…
