Episode 1: A New Awakening

Right now, I’m being attacked by a bear. I had been enjoying my nature-loving hobbies—hiking and waterfall viewing—but deep in the mountains, I had the misfortune of running into an Asian black bear.

Nature called, so I stepped off the trail and into the brush to relieve myself. But as luck would have it, the bear was right there. It had likely heard the bear bell attached to my pack and lay in wait, wary of the noise. I just walked right up to it like an idiot.

The bear probably thought I was charging it; it suddenly stood up and lunged at me. I was completely off guard, my mind focused solely on doing my business. I technically had equipment—a forage knife with an eight-inch blade and bear repellent spray—but panic seized me. I couldn’t do a thing. I just stood there and took the hit.

Thwack!

The moment those sharp claws tore into my face, the thought crossed my mind: Ah, I’m dead.

Getting killed in the middle of taking a leak… it’s a pitiful way to go, but somehow fitting for me. As my consciousness faded and my life flashed before my eyes, I realized this was truly the end.

Come to think of it, I lived a truly dull life. Once I got a job and became a salaryman, every day was just insipid. I simply went through the motions of uninteresting work. I lived somewhat aimlessly, got married, got divorced, and just… existed.

I started hiking after my divorce and discovered the joy of seeing, hearing, and touching nature. I had finally learned the fun of being alive, so to meet my end like this… my life really is pathetic. I have no children, and I’m estranged from my siblings and relatives. The only saving grace is that there’s no one left to worry about me. With no particular regrets, my consciousness faded to black.

Eiichi Takanashi, aged 63. Died in the mountains of Japan.

Ding-dong… Ding-dong… Ding-dong…

An alarm was ringing somewhere in the distance. Somehow, it resembled the speed warning chime found in old cars. I thought about this idly within my hazy consciousness.

Thud! Bash! Bash! Clang! Clang!

Sudden impact sounds echoed, accompanied by physical shocks. My consciousness sharpened. So noisy! I thought, opening my eyes. There was a bear right in front of me.

What the—!? Am I still being attacked by the bear?

I looked around. I was lying inside something like a narrow box, enclosed on all six sides. About half of the upper section was a transparent, glass-like window. Is this a coffin? No, the surrounding walls feel too mechanical for that. Am I in an intensive care capsule?

The bear was pounding on that transparent window. Fear washed over me, but since I wasn’t feeling any pain or actual harm, I could observe the situation relatively calmly. Looking closely, this wasn’t the Asian black bear that surely killed me. This was a monstrously huge bear, several times that size.

I thought it might be a grizzly, but it seemed like a slightly different creature. It had thick, jet-black fur that was quite long. Still, it looked enough like a bear, so let’s just call it a bear for now.

Why is a bear attacking this capsule I’m in? Actually, why am I in a capsule in the first place? Did someone find my critically injured body and transport me to a hospital?

From what I could see through the capsule window, the place looked more like a laboratory than a hospital room. Various instruments hung from the ceiling, and a giant screen displayed what looked like graphs.

Is this an ICU? While I pondered this, the bear’s assault continued, and the capsule was starting to look compromised. The bear let out a ferocious growl, relentlessly scratching and bashing with its powerful claws.

Fortunately, my body seemed fully intact and able to move, but there was nothing I could do while lying in this cramped space. If the bear’s attack breached the capsule, I was finished. To be killed by a bear twice… what a twisted fate.

Finally, the bear’s massive claws tore through the capsule’s lid. I prepared for death once more, but the lid suddenly popped up and opened, shoving the bear backward. I rolled out of the capsule and onto the floor. While the bear was stumbling, I scrambled up and ran in the opposite direction. I am currently stark naked.

The bear regained its balance and immediately gave chase. The room was about 350 square feet, with walls lined with monitor panels and switches, though most were smashed. I caught a glimpse of several other capsules lined up just like mine.

I saw an open door in the direction I was running and headed for it. That was probably where the bear had entered. Passing through the door, I emerged into a massive room the size of a gymnasium. It was filled with rows of capsules like the one I had been in, most of them destroyed. The bear must have done this; there were corpses inside that had been devoured.

I only got a quick look while fleeing, but some of the corpses, while humanoid, didn’t look like modern humans. Some resembled archaic humans I’d seen in encyclopedias, like Neanderthals or Peking Man. There were carcasses of various other human-like creatures, too, but I had no time to gawk. The bear was closing in.

I ran for my life. Being killed by a bear again wasn’t a funny joke. I passed through several large rooms, all showing signs of destruction. What the hell is that thing?

You hear stories about bears breaking into buildings, but do they usually cause this level of devastation? And it’s easily over four meters tall—how did something that huge even get inside? I had been running through dim gloom, but I spotted a place ahead where bright light was spilling out.

I glanced back; the bear was right on my heels. Is it surprisingly slow? For it to struggle catching an old man who can’t even sprint properly… maybe it’s just big and lumbering. Whatever the case, it was saving my life.

No, that’s not it. I am sprinting at full speed. My body, which felt heavy at first, now feels light, as if I’ve grown wings. I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager.

Turning a corner, I burst into the brightly lit room. It looked like a warehouse, with container-like crates stacked in the corners. But what drew my eye was in the center of the room: a circle about 10 meters in diameter, inscribed with patterns resembling a magic circle.

It looked somewhat like a stage, glowing under lights emitted from machines stationed at its four cardinal points. While everywhere else I’d seen—except the room I woke up in—looked abandoned, this spot felt alive and active.

Scattered around it were the chewed-up remains of several small, dwarf-like bodies. They had greenish skin and were already starting to rot.

I glanced back; the bear was close enough that its claws could almost reach me. I could hear its ragged breathing and smell its beastly stench. More than that, I felt a terrifying, almost malicious aura coming from it. It felt like actual physical pressure. I focused on nothing but running as hard as I could.

The moment I passed over the glowing circle, my body felt weightless, and my vision inverted. I don’t think even a second passed.

In the next instant, I was in a forest. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in the dim light. Dense, giant trees surrounded me. I could hear the calls of birds and beasts and smell the rich scents of nature.

What? What is going on? At my feet, the same circle pattern from inside the building was etched into the ground.

But I had no time to think. The bear was right behind me, ready to pounce. The location had changed, but the situation remained exactly the same.

The bear swung its foreleg, claws bearing down on me. I dodged by a hair’s breadth and backstepped. To my shock, my body sailed through the air, landing about two meters back. I had only kicked off lightly. I had felt my body getting lighter while running, but this was astonishing.

While I was still surprised by my own movement, the bear stood up and closed in, swinging both front paws at high speed. I backstepped again to create distance. This time I pushed off harder and flew four or five meters.

Yet, the bear closed the distance while remaining upright. It made a light skipping motion, but its massive body seemed to slide across the ground. That’s impossible! I was dumbfounded by its unbelievable movement, but the bear attacked without mercy.

Its five claws, each over four inches long, grazed my head. The bear swung its paws repeatedly, but I kept dodging by the skin of my teeth. My own movements were just as unbelievable. I could clearly see the path of the bear’s swinging arms. My body easily maneuvered under the bear’s claws.

Amazing! What is going on with my body?!

Earlier, a smaller, slower Asian black bear had helplessly mauled me. Now, I was somehow holding my own against this giant.

Finding a split second of opportunity, I attempted a counterattack. After the bear swung its right paw, I circled to its left and threw a punch. It landed cleanly on the bear’s flank, and I felt my fist dig into the muscle beneath the fur.

However, the difference in physique and weight was insurmountable; the bear didn’t go flying like in a manga. It seemed to take zero damage—in fact, a sharp pain shot through my wrist.

Still, perhaps its pride was wounded. “Guooooohhh!!!” it roared, unleashing a flurry of attacks even faster than before. Looking around, I saw nothing I could use as a weapon. My only choice was to run.

I backstepped to gain distance, turned my back on the bear, and bolted. Luckily, the forest trees grew densely together. I figured if I could slip through gaps too narrow for that giant body, I could escape.

We had been fighting on the circle, but the moment I ran off it—and the bear chased me out—the circle vanished as if it had never existed. Only bare tree roots crawling along the ground remained. I found it strange, but escaping the bear took priority.

I sprinted, kicking off the ground hard. Immediately, exposed roots and fallen branches dug into my bare feet, slicing them. I felt sharp pain, but I ignored it and kept running.

My body tore through the forest at incredible speed. Yet, the bear pursued with equal swiftness. I strained my eyes, scanning the path ahead for a space the bear couldn’t fit through.

About 50 meters ahead, I saw two massive trees standing with only a slight gap between them. I could barely squeeze through, but the bear would have to go around. That should buy me some distance.

Finally seeing a way out, I endured the pain in my feet and pushed off the earth with even more force. I managed to slip through the gap in the trees without being caught. Unless it killed its momentum, the bear was going to crash right into the trees.

But then, something impossible happened.

The bear twisted its body and jumped sideways, changing direction in mid-air to skirt around the outside of the trees. Its speed didn’t drop at all.

Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!! Impossible!!!

The bear had curved through the air and changed direction without kicking off anything. That shouldn’t be physically possible!

“What the hell is this thing?! What is going oooooooooon?!!!”

The bear closed in as if nothing had happened.

Am I dreaming? Could I be in an emergency room right now undergoing surgery? But the pain in my feet was real. The throbbing, gouging agony was intense enough to make me faint.

The bear was gaining on me. Its body seemed to swell in size, radiating an overwhelming pressure. Driven by terror, I panicked and ran, screaming my lungs out. I don’t remember where I ran or how. I was just consumed by fear.

When I came to my senses, I was cornered on the edge of a sheer cliff. There was nowhere left to go. To my side, a river over 10 meters wide flowed into a waterfall that plummeted straight down. The drop looked to be over 50 meters. On the other side was a rocky mountain face, practically a vertical wall. The bear crept toward me slowly, as if savoring the situation. I had no will left to fight.

There were two escape routes. Jump across the river to the other bank, or dive off the cliff into the waterfall basin. Whether either counted as an “escape” was debatable. My physical abilities had improved for some reason, but could I clear a river more than 10 meters wide? I doubted it.

If I fell into that fast-moving current, I’d be swept right over the center of the falls. I’d never surface again.

If I jumped off the cliff, falling over 50 meters, could I manage to hit the water away from the crushing force of the waterfall? Even if I did, would my body withstand the impact? I didn’t know, but decision time was upon me.

The bear rose up to launch its attack, so I steeled myself and leaped from the cliff.