“Even an S-Rank Ability User wouldn’t dare venture deep into such a place. You want to go there?”
Kagegaya Tsubaki tugged at Kazama Yin’s sleeve, gritting her teeth.
“If you two are going off to get yourselves killed, I’m definitely not coming along, seriously!”
“Don’t worry, Kagegaya. I’m not that reckless,” Hanyu Suoluo shook his head.
“I’ve investigated. DRG Japan Branch left Japan after the Second Superpower Outbreak.”
“The Second…” Kagegaya Tsubaki’s eyes widened. “You mean… the one with The Light Extinguishers?”
That was the one. The incident where the young Kagegaya Tsubaki’s Heart Worm had Awakened… though, of course, Kagegaya Tsubaki would rather it hadn’t.
Because that upheaval was even more devastating to Japan than the Asian War that lasted only a month.
Japan’s population was directly reduced by two-fifths, including… Kagegaya Tsubaki and Kazama Yin’s parents.
A worldwide collective Awakening, rampaging Devouring creatures tearing loved ones apart.
The elderly and children were the first to die. It was the week that came closest to the end of the world.
If the Supernatural Club’s Predecessors hadn’t stopped the Shock Core, even more people would have died.
“Yeah, that’s right. The Mejiro Fortress was also destroyed around that time…”
Hanyu Suoluo opened his mouth, then looked at Kazama Yin. “The information I found suggests The Light Extinguishers weren’t defeated by the Supernatural Club’s Predecessors alone. During the process… the Curtain Cluster and DRG, even SAAC, lent a hand.”
Textbooks… or official historical records, don’t mention this.
The Curtain Cluster, due to its deep ties with the old government, was naturally erased from the new government’s official records.
SAAC, from Serys, remains mysterious even in this era of widespread Ability Users. The world only knows Serys has such a department.
Given their way of operating, it’s normal they wouldn’t allow mentions of their existence.
DRG… It’s said the old government had an ambiguous relationship with DRG before.
They probably got along well with the old government’s Curtain Cluster, otherwise why would they have fought side by side?
Logically, there shouldn’t be any reason to erase them.
Yet, both the old government and the new Hatoyama government tried to erase DRG’s influence. That’s strange.
However, the reason Hanyu Suoluo hesitated was whether Kazama Yin, this Supernatural Club fanatic, would feel “disillusioned” hearing this.
Because if there’s a small discrepancy between propaganda and fact in this matter, what about other things?
In the Supernatural Club’s glorious history, was it truly as advertised, or… was it just artificially created, merely a propaganda tool for the new government?
Unexpectedly, Kazama Yin just nodded. “I see. DRG must be really strong, huh?”
Hard to tell if he didn’t understand or simply didn’t care.
“Not just strong, super strong!”
Hanyu Suoluo lowered his voice. “When you were kids, you must have seen news about DRG, right?”
“I only remember for a period, about a year, there was DRG news on TV. After that, they became very low-key.”
Kazama Yin fell into recollection. “Ah, GSAC was also hosted by them.”
“Huh? You guys watched that kind of news as kids? Was I the only one watching Animation?” Kagegaya Tsubaki looked somewhat dazed.
“Yeah. Some materials say that legendary Pale Gray Witch was the leader of the Japan Branch.”
Legendary… the Pale Gray Witch whose appearance signaled death’s descent during the Euro-African War?
“Listen, you’ve said so much,” Kagegaya Tsubaki’s expression was a bit off, her arms crossed over her chest. “What does all this have to do with you being reckless or not?”
Hanyu Suoluo realized he’d gone off-topic, cleared his throat, and continued. “The Second Superpower Outbreak wasn’t the main reason DRG left Japan. The Mejiro Fortress was still in use back then. So, that Restricted Zone…”
“Might very well be fake.”
“Might very well!”
Kagegaya Tsubaki pointed a sharp finger, the corner of her eye twitching slightly. “That means there’s a very real chance it is real, right?!”
“I have multiple sources of corroboration!”
Hanyu Suoluo quickly pulled up a video on his Mobile Phone. “This is footage from someone who broke in and filmed it. There really are no supernatural disasters inside, just simple ruins.”
In the video, a group of adventurers climbed over the Mejiro Fortress’s towering “city wall,” approaching the actual main buildings.
The arc-shaped building was more severely damaged. For safety, these adventurers headed to explore the more intact circular building.
The whole video wasn’t long, edited down to just three minutes, but there wasn’t much worth seeing. It looked like many of the uncleared ruins scattered across Japan now.
“This group of adventurers didn’t encounter any supernatural phenomena. The place is safe. I have a few more videos like this, from different teams.”
“But…” Kagegaya Tsubaki started, then stopped. The unease lingering in her heart still made her want to dissuade the two from going.
At that moment, the class bell rang, and the ordinary students returned to the classroom.
“Let’s go to the Supernatural Club first.”
The three walked in silence, passing by the chorus sounds emanating from the music classroom. Harmonious voices sang Peaceful Sakura.
“If Kagegaya feels it’s too dangerous, then Kazama and I can go alone.”
“Wh-what? You two, really!” Kagegaya Tsubaki’s face flushed red, then she flung her hand out. “Fine! I’ll go with you!”
Hanyu Suoluo and Kazama Yin exchanged a look, then both smiled.
“What are you laughing at?!”
…
Skipping school, for “Awakened Students,” was less an act of rebellion and more a certain privilege outside the required curriculum.
As long as they didn’t cause major trouble, Teachers usually turned a blind eye—though, of course, punishment afterward was unavoidable.
It wasn’t far from Sugamo to Mejiro.
The once-bustling area along the Yamanote Line, though train service had resumed, still presented a jarring, patchwork view of old and new outside the windows.
Brand-new high-rise Apartments often stood right beside several charred, abandoned buildings with blackened exteriors.
The three didn’t take the train, opting to walk instead.
Roughly forty minutes later, the legendary “fortress” finally came into view.
“Wow…”
Even having seen pictures on the old internet, witnessing this DRG relic in person, the overwhelming sense of oppression was still breathtaking.
It looked less like a company Headquarters and more like a hybrid of a medieval war fortress and a Cyberpunk ruin.
A deep gray concrete wall, over twenty meters high, tightly encircled the entire Mejiro plateau.
The wall was covered in withered, yellow vines. The occasional exposed sections showed clear reinforcement marks and craters left by some kind of heavy Weapon.
“Is this… the legendary ‘Wall of Sighs’?” Kagegaya Tsubaki instinctively took a step back, swallowing hard. “This is really a company’s wall? Even the Self-Defense Force bases aren’t this exaggerated.”
“Back in the day, DRG, in a sense, had an independent kingdom around Mejiro.”
“Stop marveling at history. The key now is, how do we get in?” Kazama Yin looked up at the towering wall, somewhat troubled. “A place like this must have defense systems, right?”
Hanyu Suoluo pulled out a coil of climbing rope and several special metal hooks from his backpack.
“The Mejiro Fortress has been without power for ages now. The defense systems are just for show. As for how to get up…”
He pointed to a partially collapsed gap in the corner of the wall, densely blocked by barbed wire.
But for Superpower Users, it wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle.
“Although there’s a gap there, the barbed wire has warning signs, meaning that spot is probably the most structurally unstable.”
“We’ll go from the side, using those vines.”
“Alright! Watch me!”
Kazama Yin, unable to hold back any longer, lowered his center of gravity and sprinted forward like a leopard.
The moment he neared the wall, he kicked off the ground powerfully, propelling himself into the air.
He took three steps up the vertical wall surface, using his momentum to grab a thick vine about seven or eight meters off the ground.
“Whoa! Surprisingly sturdy!”
He shook on it, waving to those below. “Come on up! The view here is amazing!”
Kagegaya Tsubaki sighed. Though her mouth said no, her body honestly grabbed the rope Hanyu Suoluo tossed over.
Ten minutes later.
The three of them lay panting on the broad top of the wall.
When they lifted their heads to look at the world inside the wall, even Hanyu Suoluo, who had mentally prepared himself, couldn’t help but hold his breath.
Inside was a world frozen in time.
The once meticulously manicured garden vegetation, having lost human control, had grown wildly, swallowing roads, streetlights, and low auxiliary buildings.
And at the center of this wild sea of green, two massive structures stood like divine monuments.
On the left was a perfectly circular, gigantic building, entirely clad in some dark gold reflective material, resembling a fallen Sun under the setting sun.
On the right was a huge arc-shaped building, like a crescent Moon, leaning against the “Sun’s” side, but more severely damaged.
“Sun Tower, Moon Tower…”
Hanyu Suoluo murmured the names from the documents. “Those were DRG’s core twin towers back then.”
“So magnificent…” The excitement in Kazama Yin’s eyes was impossible to hide. “This is even cooler than those special effects show bases we saw on TV!”
“But it’s also lifeless, like… a tombstone.”
Kagegaya Tsubaki hugged her arms. That uncomfortable intuition started sounding alarms in her mind again.
“Do we really have to go in? I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“There’s an old saying from the Kingdom of Zhong: ‘Since we’re already here.'”
Kazama Yin jumped down, using the dense tree canopy on the inside of the wall as a cushion, landing steadily.
“Hey! Wait for me!”
…
After landing, the three trudged through the thick layer of humus, struggling to make their way through the overgrown grounds.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. Not even insect sounds could be heard, only the crack of them stepping on dry branches echoing through the empty ruins.
Occasionally, they could see abandoned vehicles half-hidden in the grass, the DRG orange logo printed on their bodies.
“Which one do we go to first?”
The two magnificent buildings were now close at hand.
Hanyu Suoluo stared at the circular “Sun Tower” for a moment, then shook his head. “The Sun Tower’s entrance is directly opposite, and it looks too structurally intact. Adventurers prioritized exploring the Sun Tower.”
He pointed to the arc-shaped “Moon Tower.”
“If my uncle left with DRG, related files are more likely stored in the Moon Tower, which served as the command center.”
“Then it’s decided—the Moon!” Kazama Yin drew his Kendo Sword, cutting through the obstructing thorns.
“Special Dispatch Exploration Team, move out!”
“Don’t just make up names, you idiot!”