In the city park not far from Chiba Academy, Kevin was sitting on a bench with Mei, chatting about everything under the sun. The flock of pigeons pecking at the ground suddenly took flight with frantic coos, startled by something unseen. Noticing this, Kevin stopped mid-sentence.
Two burly men, clad in black bulletproof vests, arms wrapped with various ammunition belts and tactical backpacks slung over their shoulders as if heading into battle, walked into the park. A cold, hardened aura radiated from them, chilling to the bone.
Kevin could hardly believe such a sight could appear in the peaceful and tranquil Nagazora City.
As one of the world's leading metropolitan cities, Nagazora City maintained extremely strict security. Firearms and ammunition simply could not flow into civilian hands. Yet here were two heavily armed and visibly dangerous men strolling openly into the park. Something was clearly wrong.
Kevin immediately stood up, stepping in front of Mei. He gripped his metal thermos tightly, muscles in his arm tensing as he demanded, "Who are you? What do you want?"
Mei was visibly flustered. Since childhood, she had been carefully protected by her father, Dr. Raiden. She had never witnessed a scene like this before. Even her father's bodyguards had never looked so menacing.
[These people are most likely after me. To ransom me for money or my father's research results... I can't drag Kevin into this.]
She tugged at the corner of Kevin's shirt, but Kevin placed his warm palm over the back of her hand, stopping her words before they left her lips.
Because Mei knew that even if she told him, he would never abandon her and run. Instead, he would recklessly risk his life against them.
One of the men, wearing gray sunglasses, grinned and removed them, revealing deep-set eyes as he looked at Kevin. "Relax, boy. We were hired to protect you."
"Protect? Why would we need protection?" Kevin clearly did not believe him. If the man had claimed they were kidnappers, it might have sounded more convincing.
At that moment, a voice crackled through the man's walkie-talkie.
Beep beep— "Captain, evacuate the city immediately... There are zombies! And... monsters! Everyone's gone crazy!" Gunfire erupted in the background.
The mercenary captain's expression darkened. He grabbed Kevin's arm to pull him away, only to find that despite Kevin's lean build, his strength was unexpectedly great. The captain could not budge him.
"Move! It's urgent. We'll explain in the car!"
Though the man carried a gun, Kevin refused to yield. He took a deep breath. It felt as though Mei standing behind him granted him limitless courage.
"You explain first!" he said firmly.
For Mei's safety, Kevin had to understand the situation from the mercenary captain. He could not let her step blindly into danger.
If there was anything suspicious, then even if it cost him his life, he would create a chance for Mei to escape.
The captain sighed and released Kevin's arm. "We don't have much information either. According to our employer, a devastating war is about to break out in this city. We were sent to help evacuate the civilians."
"War? Please. At least come up with something believable. There hasn't been a war in over a decade since the United Nations was established. Every country signed the Global Union Accord. Even if one nation violated it, global forces would suppress them immediately. War is impossible.
"Unless it's terrorists stirring things up. Don't tell me you're the ones starting this war—taking civilians as hostages?"
While speaking, Kevin subtly gestured behind his back, signaling Mei to prepare to run. But Mei squeezed his hand in response, making it clear she would never abandon him. Kevin could only continue negotiating with the captain.
"Then what else did your employer tell you?"
The captain answered honestly. "Protect you—Kevin and Mei. You two will be the key to this war.
"Until you leave Nagazora City, we'll follow your commands."
With that, the captain unholstered the gun at his waist. Just as Kevin thought he was about to be threatened at gunpoint, the captain instead pushed the weapon into Kevin's hands.
It seemed he was serious about "following your commands."
Before Kevin and Mei could process this, a shrill air raid siren blared across the city. Screams echoed from the other end of the park, and a white blur flashed in the distance.
The situation was eerily unsettling. Combined with the piercing siren, it sent a chill straight to the heart.
The captain placed a heavy hand on Kevin's shoulder. "We have to go. There's no time!"
"Mei?"
"Mm."
Seeing her nod, Kevin grabbed her hand and boarded the modified jeep with the mercenaries.
As soon as all four were inside, the jeep roared to life. With fierce acceleration, it tore across the grass—crushing a "Keep Off the Lawn" sign beneath its wheels—and sped toward the main road outside the park.
"The situation escalated fast. We only just received confirmation that the war has begun," the captain said, pulling bulletproof vests from the back seat and handing them to Kevin and Mei.
He then opened a crate of ammunition, distributing it among everyone in the vehicle. Mei was given a low-recoil handgun.
"Here, this is how you disengage the safety."
The captain had just finished helping them when a loud bang rang out. For a split second he thought a gun had gone off accidentally. But looking forward, he saw that the jeep had hit something. The windshield was smeared and blurred.
"Mike... that wasn't human," said the other mercenary driving. "It looked like the zombies from the intel?"
"Oh God... Did we just walk into a zombie apocalypse movie set?" Mike's face turned grim. This mission was turning out far worse than expected.
Information continued pouring through the walkie-talkie. That was why the driver had rammed straight into the "zombie" without hesitation.
According to the reports, these pale-skinned zombies had once been human. They possessed immense strength and agility. Wielding slender katanas, they resembled wandering ronin from the Edo period. They had no intelligence—upon seeing a human, they would simply cut them down.
Their reflexes were terrifyingly fast. Some dressed in white could even deflect incoming bullets with their blades. Just like the jokes online, it was as though they were mocking modern humanity: "My lord, the era has returned."
Because they were inside the speeding jeep, they did not have to face the terrifying zombies directly on the road. Just as everyone felt a flicker of relief—
A slender katana flashing with cold light sliced down through the roof of the vehicle, cleaving the mercenary driving in the front seat clean in half.
In a shattered world, there is no such thing as luck.