Prologue

“Huh? No.” I’d never murdered anyone.

“In a few words, tell me what ‘living’ means to you.”

“Eating and putting food on the table, I suppose?” What’s up with these questions?

“Do you have any close family members?”

“One younger sister.”

“Is she a discreet sort of person?”

“She can be loud, but she’s the type who keeps her promises.”

“I see…” He was silent for a beat. “Would you like to travel to the Other Dimension?” he asked.

“Huh? …Sure, if it pays well.” My jaw dropped when I heard how much I’d get. They sent an advance to my sister’s bank account. I checked that the deposit had gone through, then nodded again.

What follows is the explanation I received after we moved to another room.

The Other Dimension was split into three continents. As they were all lined up next to one another, they were called the Left, Middle, and Right Continents. The military battalion of years past had been sent to the Left Continent. I would be sent to the Right. There, I’d find a dungeon called the Tower of Legions, and deep within that, the fifty-sixth floor. My job description: “Acquire the resource found there within one year.”

I didn’t really understand the technical details, but apparently if you used that material as a catalyst on a spaceship, you could make some black hole thingamajig-type engine with incredible energy output… In any case, it was supposed to be insanely crazy. I wondered how they knew that to begin with but assumed it was none of my business to ask as someone at the very bottom of the ladder. And I got the feeling he wouldn’t answer even if I did.

Six professionals and three AI units were originally supposed to be sent off on this mission, but one of the pros got into an accident at the last minute and wasn’t able to make it. I was their replacement. Given the top secret nature of the plans, they evidently hadn’t been able to prepare any understudies. I had a ton of questions, but a job was a job. Money was money. Don’t worry, be happy, I told myself.

Honestly, I was more concerned about having to spend a whole year with total strangers. Group projects had never really been my thing. I was seriously nervous.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I brought this,” I said, reaching for my résumé, but—

“No, that’s quite all right. We’ve already investigated your background.”

“Oh, I see.” So my sister’s hard work making this forged document had been for nothing.

“By the way, Mr. Interviewer, when do we leave?”

“In two hours.”

“Seriously?!”

“Seriously.” I had no idea how to respond to this matter-of-fact declaration. All the plans floating around in my mind disappeared. I needed to do one thing before anything else.

“I have to call my sister! Excuse me!”

“That’s fine, but we’ll be listening in on you.”

“Go ahead, I guess?!”

Knowing it was totally pointless to leave the room, I stepped out into the hall for privacy and called my sister. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

“It’s me,” she said.

“Hey there, Yukikazzie.”

“Gross. Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry, Yukikazzie. I’m really sorry. Your big brother’s landed himself a job.”

“You’re such a creep. Go jump off a bridge. Congrats on the job. That happened pretty fast—it’s a normal company, right?”

“Yeah, sure. So anyway, I’m heading off on an assignment in, like, two hours and won’t be able to get in touch for about a year. But don’t you worry about me.”

“You idiot, it’s straight-up exploitative!”

“The pay is good. I even got an advance.”

“Do they even give you anything resembling social security, pension, or health insurance?!”

The door opened with a clack behind me, and the interviewer popped his head out into the hall.

“We provide an excellent benefits package,” he explained. “If for any reason you are unable to return, we will compensate your sister with a fee for her discretion and additional remuneration for emotional damages. Both of these are also handsome sums.”

“He said I get an excellent benefits package. It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I heard him! This is all super shady! Can you put him on the line?!”

“That I must refuse. Speaking with employees’ families never leads to anything but problems,” added the interviewer, who then retreated into the room.

“It’s all right. It might be a bit dangerous, but I’ll come home no matter what. Don’t worry,” I reassured her.

“Every time you say that, I get even more worried.”

“Hmm, but the money’s good.”

“Con men always wave around a thick wad of cash. It’s the oldest trick in the book.”

“You’re so smart, Yukikazzie.”

“You’re just a total dumbass!” She was entirely right.

“It’s too detailed to be a scam. And they don’t have anything to gain out of tricking me.”

“I’ve said this a million times, but you really don’t have to worry about my leg. The doctor said once I get used to the prosthetic, I might even run faster than I could before.”

“Yeah, I bet you could.”

Even so, I still wanted to do this for her, as her older brother. I felt bad for dragging her into my own issues, but I’d rather regret trying than regret not doing anything at all. And so I had no choice but to jump at any opportunity that came my way, no matter how suspect. That’s just the kind of foolish man I was.

“Sorry. But I promise I’ll come home, so don’t worry.”

“Ugh! You’re so stupid! I should’ve known you wouldn’t listen to a word I said! Drop dead! I hope you live, crawl through hell, and come back home, you idiot!”

Click. She lost it, and I lost her. In so many ways.

The door to the room opened.

“Have you finished?” the interviewer asked.

“Yes, I’m done.”

“The clock is ticking. Let’s move on to a lecture on the other realm and get you suited up.”

I changed into the combat fatigues they had laid out for me and put a ceramic-plate body-armor vest on over them. The vest weighed very little but had various modular pouches to carry a mini arsenal of backup ammo for all the guns I’d use. They also gave me a pair of lightweight but sturdy metal-reinforced boots. As for guns, they’d prepared an AK-47 equipped with the latest features but disguised to look virtually indistinguishable from a 1953 model, as well as an M1911 Colt Government pistol fashioned in the same way. I removed the magazine from the AK-47, slid back the charging handle to check for debris in the chamber, then pulled the trigger.

Not bad. It’ll do, as long as it shoots out bullets when I need it to.

I replaced the magazine and repeated the procedure on the pistol. All clear. I sheathed my personal karambit in a sleeve on my arm, hung a well-worn Japanese-style woodsman’s hatchet from my belt, and threw on the aramid fiber poncho, which they gave me to hide my equipment, over everything for the finishing touch.

“Well, you certainly look the part now,” noted the interviewer.

“Thanks.” No need to butter me up.

After that, he spent every second we had left cramming summaries about the Other Dimension into my brain. He told me about the different races, religions, and influential powers, about the economy, cultures and civilizations, expected weather forecasts, and contagious diseases, and of course the dungeon, its rough history, its structure, the enemies lurking within, and the surrounding areas. And then, at the very end, he added one final point:

All of this data dated back half a century, and they could not confirm whether it was still relevant nor provide any details on the current situation.

We moved on to yet another room, this one wide open and bright. An ostentatious piece of equipment stood in the center of the space. Shaped like a pedestal, it looked like an altar where you’d present offerings to the gods. A bunch of people dressed in workman’s clothes bustled around it in a great hurry.

The five professional explorers stood waiting before me. There were four men and one woman. They were just casually milling about, but they never let down their guard for an instant. Though they looked genial and relaxed, I could’ve sworn I saw something glimmer deep in their eyes—that indescribable aura gained after mastering the art of this particular craft. Every single one of them had it in droves.

Do they even need me here?

“Mr. President, is this our last squad member?” asked a man with a scarred face. He gave me serious team leader vibes.

“Yes, though we were pressed for time, so I cannot guarantee he will meet your collective levels of proficiency. I’d say he’s thirty percent of what you’re looking for.”

“I’ll take it. Better than someone in the red.”

Wait, the interviewer was the president?

“You’re the Firm’s president?” I’d pegged him as some drab middle-management type.

“Well, my business is at stake here. This isn’t a task I can delegate so easily. That said, if this succeeds, we’ll make trillions. But if it fails, everybody working here, as well as in the upper floors of the building and their families—not to mention our affiliated partners and contractors—will lose their livelihoods. That’s all. So let’s just take it easy.”

How exactly am I supposed to do that?

“I’m surprised you went with someone like me,” I admitted.

“I’ve invested a tremendous amount of money into this, so I would hate to waste a single person’s slot. The rule of thumb I’ve settled on over the years is this: The sweeter the deal, the easier it goes through. Though your name is what did it for me. It’s got a lucky ring to it.”

“That sounds more than a little reckless.” Is this actually going to be okay?

“Don’t sweat it, kid. The president’s always like that,” explained the scarred man. “At the same time, he’s the kind of guy who has what it takes to build such a huge operation and get an army of people working for him. You should take pride in the fact that he chose you, so get it together.”

I appreciated the encouraging words from our team leader—until the great president in question muttered, “He wasn’t actually my first choice, but…”

“Dude.” I heard all of that, you know.

“It’s time!” yelled one of the elderly workmen near the pedestal. “We will now begin to open the portal! First, we’ll keep it open for six seconds and throw in the containers and machina units! Live humans will go in after! We’ll shut the portal for twelve seconds, then open it again for seven. All of you need to jump in then! You only get one shot! Stumble and miss your chance and it’s all over!”

A crane had placed the containers in a line on top of a rail installed before the portal. They carried clothes, provisions, medical supplies, and a wide variety of other vital resources meant to keep us alive. The three cylindrical AI robots came after, and we humans stood behind them. I brought up the rear.

“Opening!” yelled the man.

A brilliant light exploded and converged around the altar; a portal appeared atop the platform in the center of the light.

“Push! PUUUSH!” The workers pushed and slid the containers down the rail. They disappeared through the portal, which swallowed them all without a hint of resistance. I got the feeling I’d seen something similar in a movie a long time ago. The AI units followed shortly after. The techs worked so quickly that they finished shipping everything off with a second to spare. I did wonder if it wouldn’t have been more efficient to use some kind of automated mechanism, but it was very true to the Japanese spirit to rely on human hands for the most pivotal tasks.

Next was our turn.

I’d never done it myself, but I imagined this was what it must feel like to go skydiving. I felt my heart start racing. My legs stiffened from nerves, so I punched them a few times. It wouldn’t be close to funny if I tripped from trembling too much.

“So, the president mentioned he chose you for your name. Out of curiosity, what is it?” the woman in front of me asked nonchalantly.

“My name is Souya.”

“Oh, as in ‘Valley of the Gods’? That does sounds auspicious.”

You wouldn’t know it by the shitty life I’ve led.

“Opening! Run! RUN!” the same elderly man shouted, and we all broke into a sprint. Once again, a blinding light exploded, converged, and then revealed a portal. There was no going back now. The first man jumped into the ring of light, then the second. Then the third disappeared in his wake. I followed after them.

That’s when time began to flow in slow motion for some reason, like it does in moments of crisis. The scenery around me crawled by. I saw the fourth person dissolve into the light, saw the woman’s short hair bounce as she ran. Then she, too, was gone. I started sweating. A violent dread came over me. I couldn’t even begin to describe the sense of impending danger.

This is definitely bad.

The worst part about it was that the portal now gleamed right before me. I dived in, and a torrent of light blinded me. I didn’t get a sense of entering or leaving anything, which was the scariest part. I cracked open my eyes but found there was nothing to see—nothing but a vast, empty void.

For a split second, it felt like I was floating. But of course, I was actually in free fall, the wind wrapping close around my body. Though, it was so dark that I couldn’t be sure if I was actually falling down; I could’ve just as easily been getting sucked up toward the ceiling. Either way, I was going so fast that my balls retracted up against me. Through the whoosh of the wind rushing past my ears, I heard myself let out a short yelp.

I’m definitely gonna die. I’ll get squashed like a tomato—no, a pancake. Forgive me, dear little sister. Your big brother’s going out with a pathetic little splat.

Driven by something like instinct, I curled up into a fetal position. There was so much going on, but damn, that wind was so freaking loud. My lips got all crusty. At least it wasn’t cold.

“Give me a break.”

The fall took forever. I actually got kind of used to it. Leave it to humans to find ways to get bored, even in the moments before they die. I turned on my wristwatch light and shined it around. It landed on nothing but dark obscurity, except I did get the feeling I saw something squirming off in the distance.

Is that a whale?

Whatever it was loomed large enough to draw the connection in my mind. It seemed to be moving slowly, but that was just a trick of the huge size difference between us and the darkness. It was a cluster of tentacles; its skin shone pallid against the light of my wristwatch. The tentacles opened up like a flower in bloom and revealed what lay at their core—a figure that looked just barely human. That was all I could take in.

As if it were the most obvious move, I screamed so loud I thought the effort would crush my throat. This thing, more terrifying than death itself, a gargantuan monstrosity, started closing in on me. I still had no name for it, but I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed, “Please, God.” Then—

—I sensed sunlight on my skin. I opened my eyes to find blue sky. I could smell grass and felt the ground meet my back. Was it a dream? No, way too nightmarish for that. And the three faint moonlike orbs in the sky were too real to be a mere dream. Counting my racing pulse, I tried to pull myself out of this state of shock. I took a deep breath of clear, pure air. Once I confirmed that I was in no pain and had sustained no injuries, I got to my feet.

A grassy meadow billowed under the gentle strokes of the wind. I could see a small river and a forest off in the distance. In the opposite direction, I found the dungeon I was after. Even modern architectural technologies could never hope to replicate a building that enormous.

There were no two ways about it. I had made it to the Other Dimension.

Just that morning, I had been in Japan, and now I’d crossed over through dimensions into another realm. What a busy day. If I’d had only a bit more time, I probably would’ve given more than a passing thought to the fact that I was now standing in an entirely new world.

Okay, enough thinking.

The containers and AI units had scattered haphazardly all around me. Free from any obstructions, the spot where I stood provided good visibility, but there was nothing else there except for what I saw on my first glance around. A soft breeze ran over the grassland. It had all the makings of a beautiful spring day.

I took a second to chew on and then swallow the inescapable truth.

Somehow, I was all alone.