Aaaaah!
Whaaaaat?　Well, wait!

　He was called a brave man who panicked and fled in a hurry - his friends.

''What?　Well, wait....

　I reach out to my companions as if to cling to them.

'Shut up!　It's all your fault!
Don't let Rina's selfishness get in the way of me!

　The people who were my friends shouted at me and ran off down the road I had come from.

　The people who were my friends ran away. All that was left was me, who couldn't move due to my injured leg, and my former comrades who were turned into mute corpses.

　And then--

So, now that all your guys are gone, what do you want to do?　--The Black Sword hero?

　The source of the tragedy - the silver-haired demon king looked down at me and smiled cruelly.


　Where did I make the wrong choice?

　There were many forks in the road that would determine our fate, in my opinion.

　Was the choice to decide to attack this impenetrable zone a mistake?

　Was it a poor choice to be cheered up as a brave man and get on with your share of the fun?

　Was it a mistake to be carried by the government and perceive himself as a brave man?

　Was it a mistake to go along with the invitation that day?

　One thing was certain - the only thing that was certain was the brutal fact that my life was almost ready to rot away.


　◇


　One day in 20XX.

　All of humanity's smartphones received a single email.

　The next day, Impenetrable Zones appeared all over the world. These zones took the form of forests, mountains, large monoliths, or cities... The only thing they all had in common was the phenomenon that humans could not enter them at all.

　Humans who had built their lives in the Impenetrable Zone had been driven out of it before long. The government worked to protect the displaced people ... and the land left to mankind was filled with temporary housing.

　It was later determined that the number of inviolable zones that occurred worldwide was about one million. Each inviolable zone covers an area of 6 km², and 6 million km² of land has been rendered inviolable to mankind. The total land area of the earth is 147,244,000 km2. A simple calculation shows that the inviolable zone is 4% of the earth's land area. However, the reality was not that sweet.

　For reasons that are not yet understood, the inviolable zones were mostly located in densely populated areas.

　In Japan, about 16,000 inviolable zones have been created. The total area of the inviolable zones is 96,000 km2. The total land area of Japan is 365,000 km2. Japan had 26% of its land area encroached upon by the inviolable zone. In Kanazawa, where I live, there are 60 inviolable zones. The total area covered by the inviolable zone is 360 km2, and the total area of Kanazawa is 467 km2. The total area of Kanazawa is 467 km². Kanazawa had 77% of its land covered by the inviolable zone.

　If we had to describe the situation in one word, it would be despair.

　Many people began to evacuate to the countryside, where there was less of an impenetrable zone, but the overwhelming shortage of land could not be resolved. The infrastructure - electricity, gas, water, and communications - was barely intact, but settlements and food were at stake.

　At this rate, Japan's population will be less than one-tenth of what it was in the not-too-distant future," said a TV commentator. The TV commentators were saying that Japan's population would drop to less than 1/10th of its current size in the not-too-distant future.

　In such a world surrounded by despair, I, Sayama Rina, a student only, surrendered myself to the flow of the world out of inertia.


　◆


　Thirty days after the outbreak of the inviolable zone, a major turning point was reached.

　A major turning point came.

　The turning point came to me while I was walking on the campus of the university, which was being used as a temporary housing site.

　The turning point was a sudden revelation from a goddess.

　One day at 10:00 AM.

At 10:00 a.m. one day, a revelation from the Goddess came to me: "Lost humanity, my beloved child. My dear child. My dear child, now your world is in despair.

　The revelation sounded like it was coming from heaven, speaking directly to my brain.

'Do not despair, my child, do not despair. I will give you strength. I give you the power to shake off despair. I give you the power to shake off despair. Free your hands of the dominant domain that envelops mankind in despair.

　The mysterious and solemn voice continues to enlighten.

I have imbued your device - your smart phone - with the power to defeat despair. The entity that rules the dominant realm is powerful and vicious. Do not underestimate the power of the enemy, my dear child. Your power, your wisdom, your science, is no match for the enemy. With the power that I have given you, my dear child, you will take back the future of humanity and its future in your hands.

　I'm not the only one hearing this voice. If I look around I see all the people in my eyes seem to be concentrating on the voice that speaks directly to my brain, even though they are confused.

'My dear child. The doors of the dominant realm that torments you will be released. The door to the dominant realm that torments you will be released, my darling child. I hope that you will save this world.

　The revelation is over.

　Five miles away. What the hell was that voice I just heard?

　The people around me and the others start buzzing.

''Rina!　Rina!　Did you hear that?　...Is that your voice?　Isn't this bad?

　My friend Saori Kayama, who was walking next to me, calls out to me. I've been friends with Saori for more than six years, since we were in junior high school. She has lightly bleached brown hair and a slightly revealing camisole. She has crinkly eyes that remind me of a small animal. She was a bit more naive until high school, but she was the friend who made her so-called college debut.

'Yeah. I heard you.

　I gave a straightforward reply, in contrast to Saori, who spoke with high intensity.

'I wonder what it is!　Is that voice now God?　Goddess?　Even though you have an incredibly mysterious voice, isn't 'smart phone' a bad idea!

　With Saori's words, I suddenly became curious about the power that I said I had in my smartphone.

''Hey!　Hey!　I'm going to Tenipara now, do you want to go with me, Rina?

　Saori is still in a state of excitement and calls out to me. Tenipara is the name of the club she belongs to. It was a common club that did anything that looked fun, especially tennis.

'Sorry. Pass.

　I apologized lightly to Saori and went back to the room that was a temporary residence shared by the four students.


　◆


　Currently, I was living in a room at the university I was attending. My family has already evacuated to Zhuzhou, relying on distant relatives. I stayed for two reasons: first, current university students were given priority in a room that doubled as temporary housing. The other reason was ... it was hard for me to see my family.

　My roommate was the only one left in the room.

　I bade my roommate a quick hello and climbed onto the bunk bed that was my private property.

　I lay down on the bed and operated my smartphone.

　--?

　There was an unfamiliar app installed on my smartphone.

　The name of the app - "World Salvation Project".

　Is she a goddess installing an app on her smartphone? God is also becoming more and more high-tech.

　I launch the app titled "The World Salvation Project".

"My dear child, first know your own fitness.

　The text that appeared on the screen was a sentence that seemed to be the words of a goddess.

　When I postponed the sentence, the screen displayed........【status】?　was shown on the screen.

'Name : Sayama Rina.
　Appropriate : Lowe
　Class: Warrior
　LV : 1
　Body : F
　Knowledge : G
　Magic power: H
　BP : 3
　Special Ability: Slash
　　　　　　Kenjutsu E


　--?

　Is this some kind of joke?

　I look at the display on my smartphone and twist my head around.

　It's as if I'm looking at a lazy game screen.

　I've never played a game before, but I knew something about it if it was knowledgeable.

　A warrior?　LV? ...What is this a joke?

　If I had been shown all this, I would have thought it was a prank of a bad nature.

　But in reality, the mysterious phenomenon known as the impenetrable zone has occurred and humanity is being driven to despair, and the voice that spoke directly to my brain earlier was heard by people other than me.

　A series of anomalous phenomena in recent times.

　Then I think what this clichéd game-like screen shows is the truth.

　But still......... [Sword Art E].

　Is the E an abbreviation for something?　Or is it a sequence of alphabets, with E, D, C, B, and A, which are stronger in that order?

　If it's the latter, it makes me laugh. The world has proven to me that my swordsmanship is ranked E. I don't have to prove it.

　I don't have to prove it, I know it.

　Will the past I've discarded follow me into this coyote world?

　Mocking myself, I postponed the screen to the next.