Chapter 2 – Prologue II

Conditiоn: Skill Usеr’s Dеаth Сonfirmed

Skill: Return Асtivated

Rеturning via Mеmоrу Роint

Distаnce tо Memоrу Pоint tоо grеаt

Status Infоrmatiоn Lost

It was а mеssаgе he had nеver sеen beforе.

Нunters shared informаtiоn online, and there hаd bеen occasiоnаl posts аbout rаrе роpups apрearing.

Ноwеver, a mеssаgе like this had nеver beеn reported, nоt еven onсе.

“Return… thаt’s the samе as my Skill. …Cоuld it be thаt this Skill is mу—”

“Hello, Asuto! Сan уа sеe mе? Can уа hеar me?”

“—!”

Аsuto gаsреd аt thе adоrаblе voiсе that came from beside him.

“I’m Amy, and I’ll be your guide! Nice to meet ya!”

“…”

Wings sprouting from her back, large, wide-open eyes. An outline as cute as a stuffed toy.

That creature, about twenty centimeters in length, was the System Guide, perceptible only to the Awakened.

Commonly known as an Angel.

If this were Asuto seeing an Angel for the first time, he would have been excited, thinking, ‘So this is the Angel the Hunters talked about!’

But now, all that filled his chest was a hatred so intense it felt like his entire body was freezing.

(This thing…)

It was the root cause that deceived humans, entrapped them, and drove humanity to ruin.

All those Monsters swarming in the sky were Guides that had left their Hunters and materialized into this world.

Asuto still remembered clearly the scornful look in Amy’s eyes when she left him.

The terror that had frozen him solid back then melted and surged out all at once.

Asuto reached out toward the Angel.

But his hand passed right through the Angel, slicing through empty air.

“What’s up, Asuto? Tryin’ to shake hands? Sorry ’bout that, but I exist in a different dimension, so ya can’t touch me directly.”

The Angel Amy shrugged her shoulders cutely.

If one knew nothing, they would likely believe it was a harmless creature, like a pet.

But Asuto knew Amy’s true nature.

They planned to make humans trust them completely, and then slaughter them all.

Even so, at this point, there was nothing he could do about this Angel.

There were no Weapons to kill Angels, no Magic. No form of attack could deal direct damage to them.

Furthermore, even if he shared information on the Hunter Site about the Angels’ intentions, no one would believe him.

Because, five years after the First Outbreak when Hunters first appeared on Earth, there wasn’t a single Hunter anywhere who doubted the Angels.

Everyone completely believed that Angels were harmless cohabitants.

That’s how skillfully the Angels had won human trust.

—And then, at the moment of deepest trust, they were pushed into the depths of hell.

“Anyway, Asuto. Bet you’re confused, wakin’ up so suddenly, huh? I’ll explain the System—”

“No need.”

He was thoroughly familiar with the System.

There was no need for explanations now.

“H-hey, hey, you really should listen properly, ya know?”

“I don’t need it.”

“You’ll definitely regret it if you don’t listen!”

“Please, be quiet.”

“…What a guy!”

Ignoring the Angel whose eyes were wide with shock, Asuto turned his thoughts inward.

(That popup earlier, and this situation…)

Tokyo was destroyed roughly ten years after Asuto’s Awakening.

If this was reality, it meant he had returned ten years into the past.

(This place is… an IT company, right?)

At the time of his Awakening, Asuto had been visiting a company for an interview.

He had been searching for a proper job to escape his day-laborer lifestyle.

(That’s right, I remember now. The interview went so badly I was feeling depressed.)

‘If you haven’t graduated from university, you’re 23 with no full-time employment experience.’

‘Things like having motivation or putting in extra effort—everyone can do that, it’s a given.’

‘Your personality seems earnest. But if you’re earnest, how come you have no full-time experience? Maybe you’re not actually earnest?’

‘…So, why did you come to our interview?’

The interview had been mostly sarcasm and lecturing.

Heartbroken, Asuto had thought he’d at least try to sear the cityscape visible from the rooftop of this nice company building into his memory.

“To think that Trash Skill, which I could never use no matter what, would activate at the very last moment…”

The Activation condition being ‘my own death’—there was no way to realize that until you died.

But this was a chance.

Before, he had derailed from the track to the Upper Caste right from his Awakening, but now was different.

Now, Asuto possessed knowledge of the future.

He knew about Skills and Conquest methods that no one else knew yet.

—And also, about the future of destruction.

(If I work hard from now, I can become strong!)

He rejected the future where all he could do was accept ruin.

To do that, he had to become stronger than anyone else.

“Ah, it’s already started before I could explain!”