When his consciousness gathered again, Tanaka found himself standing on the streets of Ikebukuro.
His stomach was bloated, even a little uncomfortably full; the bone-gnawing hunger was long gone, leaving only a satisfied laziness.
However, the Ikebukuro before him did not match the image in his memory.
The sun was fierce, shining dazzlingly on the concrete pavement, causing distorted heatwaves to rise.
But Tanaka always felt something was off.
He tilted his massive, rough-scaled head, looking around in confusion.
"Strange, this wide road somehow… shouldn't be like this."
He stretched out a thick forelimb and unconsciously patted the scorching ground.
"This place… should be a wide river with a gentle current. I can feel the coolness of the water, right beneath this hard surface…"
He moved his body clumsily, his heavy tail dragging behind him, making a rustling sound.
Then, his gaze turned to the huge plaza not far away, with its billboards and electronic screens.
"That place… isn't right either."
He squinted his cloudy eyes, which were covered with a greyish film.
"That place, with such good sunlight, so flat, should be… a warm, stony beach where I could comfortably bask. I can imagine the pleasant feeling of my back being slightly warmed by the sun…"
"And there… there… there…"
He turned his neck, and every street scene in Ikebukuro within his sight—towering glass-curtain buildings, flashing neon signs, roaring cars… at this moment, in his current perception, all seemed incredibly abrupt, distorted, and out of place.
"It's all wrong."
A vague but persistent thought lingered in his simplified mind.
"Everything here should be rivers, stony beaches, swamps, dense jungles… it should be warm and humid, a place where I can swim and sunbathe freely."
He lay on the scorching ground, his rough belly scales rubbing against the coarse concrete, trying to comprehend this massive cognitive dissonance.
The sun warmed his back, which felt good, but the confusion in his heart was like an tangled mess.
Just then, a noisy commotion came from behind him.
Dong! Dong! Da da da!
It was the sound of cheerful footsteps, the beat of drums with a primal, wild charm.
"Roar—!"
There were also loud, sharp horn-like cries, resembling the shrieks of some strange beast.
Tanaka slowly, somewhat laboriously, moved his massive body, wanting to see the commotion behind him.
But the sunlight today was too dazzling; all he saw was a shimmering, blurry patch of light and colors.
"If only I were in the cool river…" he thought regretfully, though the sun on his back did feel very comfortable.
He gave up turning around, crawled a few slow steps, and found a huge, square concrete block by the roadside, scorching hot from the sun, and clumsily climbed onto it.
He stretched out his body, squinted his poor-sighted eyes, and looked in the direction of the sounds.
A massive, noisy, colorful procession was parading through the streets of Ikebukuro in a near-carnivalesque manner.
He couldn't make out the details, only a blurred mass of strange, grotesque shadows swaying, jumping, and twisting.
Some were tall and sturdy, with horns; some were short and agile, dragging long tails; some seemed covered in feathers, shimmering in the sun; others resembled giant lizards, their scales reflecting a metallic sheen… They were diverse in form, as if they had walked directly out of the most absurd nightmare, yet they possessed a strange, vibrant sense of harmony.
Wherever the procession passed, chaos ignited, yet it was held together by an invisible bond.
They pushed and shoved their way forward, with occasional bumps and rubs, and even the blurry outlines of physical altercations could be seen.
But soon, a peculiar atmosphere would spread.
The conflicting parties would stop, communicate briefly in a way Tanaka couldn't understand—perhaps a low growl, perhaps physical contact—and then rejoin the procession, continuing forward as if the friction had never happened.
Tanaka didn't recognize any of them.
Perhaps it was better to say that most members of this parade, composed of countless bizarre individuals, were strangers to each other.
But—
An incredibly clear, incredibly strong realization, like warm spring water, instantly filled Tanaka's simple mind.
"Friends."
Every single one of them was a "Friend"!
Although his eyes couldn't see clearly, Tanaka could "feel" it with incredible clarity.
An invisible, intangible, yet real "thread" gently connected every individual in the procession, and even himself, lying far away on a rock, basking in the sun.
A sense of closeness, recognition, and belonging, originating from the very essence of life, flowed continuously through this warm "thread."
Yes, everyone was a "Friend."
One must not harm "Friends"; one must treat "Friends" well.
"Friends" are friendly beings; even if conflicts arise, they can understand each other after communication.
A huge, hopeful bubble rose in Tanaka's heart, filling his simple chest.
"If… if everyone, everyone in the world, could become 'Friends' like this…"
His cloudy eyes reflected the blurry yet joyful colors in the distance.
"How wonderful that would be."
"Everyone wouldn't have to live so hard, so tired, so… hungry."
"Then, they would achieve happiness."
He thought with absolute certainty.
"True, unparalleled happiness."
Just then, the parade passed beneath a huge outdoor advertising screen at the street corner.
Buzz—
After a brief static of current, the broadcasts, electronic advertising screens' speakers hung throughout Ikebukuro, and even the surviving radios in roadside shops, all simultaneously, as if by an invisible hand, played the same melody.
A light yet profound musical prelude flowed out.
The melody was simple, repetitive, with a strong brainwashing quality, much like a children's show theme song.
The moment the prelude began, Tanaka, who was lying on the concrete block, suddenly jolted.
An indescribable sense of joy surged from the deepest part of his heart, without warning.
His heart pounded wildly, uncontrollably, like a bird fluttering.
His blood rushed faster throughout his body, bringing a warm, light, pleasurable sensation.
This feeling… Tanaka tried to recall, and a faint light appeared in his cloudy eyes.
"That's right! It's like…"
"It's like that day in childhood when the 'Dreamland' amusement park, built in the suburbs and rumored to have the world's best facilities, was finally about to open!"
He, along with countless children, crowded outside the closed park gates, which were painted with huge cartoon figures, standing on tiptoes, craning their necks, listening to the faint, joyful music from inside.
That trembling excitement, a mix of endless anticipation, pure longing, as if the entire world was about to be filled with candy and rainbows!
Overwhelming bliss.
A warm current rushed into his nasal cavity, and a sour sensation instantly spread.
Two cloudy, hot liquids uncontrollably welled from Tanaka's blurry eyes, sliding down his rough scales and dripping onto the scorching concrete beneath him.
"How wonderful… Friends."
He choked, his huge crocodilian maw slightly opening and closing, emitting a muffled growl.
"How wonderful… a happy paradise."
After basking in the sun and experiencing this immense emotional upheaval, Tanaka felt the satisfaction from the delicious food in his stomach rapidly fading.
A familiar "emptiness," originating from the essence of life, once again rose from his belly.
"Hmm… hungry."
He shook his heavy head, deciding not to merely spectate anymore.
He wanted to join in! Join that procession full of "Friends" and "Happiness"! And with them, bask in this blissful music, and walk towards that dreamlike paradise!
He clumsily slid off the concrete block and began to crawl slowly and steadily in the direction the procession was moving, towards where the music was loudest.
He crawled over the cracked asphalt, over the stains flowing beside overturned trash cans, over the messy sidewalk strewn with glass shards and discarded clothes.
He crawled to the very center of the wide road, spread his four claws, and lay down steadily, like a huge rock waiting to be washed by a river.
"I'll wait for my Friends here," he thought.
Just then—
An indescribable scent, one that instantly ignited his strongest desires, suddenly assaulted his abnormally sensitive nostrils!
The scent… was like a fusion of the essences of the hundred most enticing delicacies in the world.
The smoky aroma of premium barbecue, the sweet fragrance of fresh fruit, the savory taste of deep-sea sashimi, the rich flavor of cream cake… they intertwined perfectly, forming an irresistible torrent that rushed towards him from the rear of the procession with astonishing speed.
"How wonderful…"
Tanaka's eyes instantly lit up, a greedy gleam piercing through their cloudiness.
His huge crocodilian maw involuntarily opened, revealing two rows of jagged, gleaming fangs.
Foul-smelling saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth.
He adjusted his posture, opening his gaping maw as wide as possible, a low, expectant gurgle emanating from deep within his throat.
"Is it delicious food from a Friend?"
"The moment of bliss… has arrived!"
He was ready, in the most devout, most open posture, to receive this gift, representing "Friends" and "Happiness," that was about to fall into his mouth!
The next moment.
Ting—!
An extremely crisp hammering sound came.
Followed by a piercing shriek that tore through the air, then the muffled thud of metal ripping through flesh, immediately followed by the crisp crack of a hard object exploding!
What fell into that gaping maw was not some mouth-watering delicacy.
It was a projectile twisted and forged from scrap metal, electric arcs, and pure violence.
It carried destructive kinetic energy, like a red-hot hammer, smashing fiercely into Tanaka's hard upper jaw.
Immediately, under an unimaginable impact, Tanaka's entire upper jaw, along with his skull, was blown off.
Viscous red and white liquid mixed with shattered bone fragments and scales, in the dazzling midday sun, traced a brief and cruel arc, scattering everywhere.
Tanaka's rolling eyes were still wide open, and what was finally frozen in his pupils was an incredulous bewilderment and an eternal longing for that "blissful delicacy."
He was dead.
Dead at the entrance of the "Happy Paradise" he had just identified.
"Is this really the right route, meow?! They're all beast-people!!"
A crying, angry, and anxious girl's shriek cut through the still-unabated gunfire and the distant, still-cheerful music.
"And you!" The target of the shriek turned behind her, "Don't fire next to my head! My ears are really going to go deaf, meow—!"
"Just drive—"
Ting—Ting—
A few more distorted projectiles whistled past the girl's side, precisely flipping over several beast-like monsters, driven even more berserk by the scent of blood, who were trying to pounce on this unwelcome visitor.
Heads exploded, limbs separated.
The bright yellow delivery electric scooter, like a runaway food truck charging into hell, was forcefully tearing a bloody path through the crowded procession with an extremely brutal posture!
The vehicle's body was spotless, and its tires rolled over blood and dismembered limbs, making a sticky sound.
The glaring bright yellow on the front of the vehicle now served as a harbinger of death.
In the driver's seat, Yuutenji Nyamu clutched the handlebars tightly, her purple cat ears pressed close to her helmet due to the immense noise and anger, her small face pale.
In the back seat, Fuuki, wearing a loose black coat, held his other equally fearsome large-caliber handgun with one hand, smoke still curling from its muzzle.
And from the collar of his coat, a small, fluffy light-green head quietly peeked out, its amber cat pupils calmly scanning the messy, bloody battlefield behind the vehicle.
In a few breaths, a dozen "Friends" who had approached out of greed or anger had become fresh decorations on the road.
Pitiable and lamentable.
However, the parade did not stop.
The brainwashingly cheerful music still flowed from the street corner broadcasts and electronic screens, overriding the gunshots, screams, and the sticky sound of tires crushing flesh.
The procession merely stirred briefly, then, with a fanaticism, continued their journey towards the "Happy Paradise."
"La la la la la la la la ~"
The light prelude cycled again.
"Welcome to Japari Park!"
"Today is also noisy! Running around! Very chaotic!"
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