Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

One second ago, some people who were still hoping for the best were forced to face the reality that Tokyo was not safe either and that they were about to face danger.

Panic quickly engulfed the city, and boulders of lava streaked across the sky above the terrified crowds.

"Run! Hurry to the subway, don't wait for me!"

"Get underground immediately! The surface is not safe!"

When faced with a threat falling from the sky, most people's first thought is to hide underground, or at the very least, in a reinforced concrete building.

There were also brave souls who straightened their disheveled suits, stood on the roofs of cars on the road, and gave the middle finger to the sky.

But driven by the instinct for survival, the massive crowd surged toward the nearest subway entrance like a burst dam.

Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro—every major transportation hub with its dense crowds instantly became the eye of the storm.

Even during peak commuting hours, the passageway, which is usually never considered too narrow, was completely blocked at this moment.

"Don't push, let me through!"

"You bastard, get out of here!"

"Who touched my butt?!"

"Mother--!"

Crying, cursing, shoving, trampling. The narrow subway entrance was packed with people, chest to back, piled up like gravel, the air so polluted it was almost suffocating.

People's faces were contorted, their eyes fixed on the entrance leading underground and the unknown fear behind them.

Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

Muffled explosions echoed throughout the city, accompanied by the rumble of collapsing buildings and shattering glass.

Thick smoke rose from the dense buildings of Tokyo.

Those were alright, most of the lava didn't fall near the Shinjuku subway station, so they could barely manage to squeeze in and queue.

But just then, a rumbling sound came from close range in the sky.

Some people looked up and saw a huge lava boulder the size of a house burning, sweeping over their heads, radiating rolling heat, and crashing down on a building next to them.

A loud clanging sound shook the area.

The scorching heatwave, carrying sharp fragments of rubble and glass, swept through the crowd crammed around the entrance like a fragmentation grenade.

The shockwave even threw some people into the air and knocked them down, causing screams and cries to rise sharply.

"Ah—my eyes!"

"Help! You're running over me!"

"on fire!"

However, the real horror has only just begun.

In the center of the enormous crater where lava had crashed, the same scene unfolded as in other cities.

puff!

A giant claw covered in translucent slime burst from the ground and slammed heavily onto the scorched earth, leaving a crater where white steam rose.

Immediately afterwards, a massive silhouette emerged from the hole.

That thing can generally be described as a toad.

Its size is comparable to a minibus, its skin is covered with dense, pus-like bumps and wrinkles, and its legs are enlarged human legs covered with leg hair.

In the enormous head, where there used to be two eyes, there is a depression, no eyeballs, and instead two human heads.

Its enormous mouth was tightly closed, almost spanning the entire length of its head, with dark green saliva flowing from its edges.

"quack"

A low, strange laugh, like some kind of forced laughter, came from its throat pouch. Two human heads, which were in their eye sockets, detached from their eye sockets with a playful laugh and floated high up, staring at the crowd in front of them.

Without warning or any tongue-sticking-out motion, it was only when people finally realized what was happening that...

The toad had already opened its huge mouth, inside which were dozens of pale hands dragging a tongue whip covered with fleshy spiky suckers. The other end of the tongue whip had shot out at some unknown time, piercing through the chests and abdomens of seven or eight people.

"Crunch."

The man whose chest had been pierced opened his mouth wide, unable to utter a sound, and could only stare blankly at the tongue that looked like a flower petal stuck in his chest.

Just as he reached out his hand, wanting to ask for help.

Whoosh!

The next second, the string of candied hawthorns shrank back.

The toad was able to swallow eight people whole in one go.

After its massive mouth closed, the gurgling, slippery swallowing sound could be clearly heard.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, their brains unable to process what they were seeing.

However, some people have a more robust underlying code, and when faced with overwhelming fears, they will shout first and then talk later.

In an instant, heart-wrenching screams of despair echoed all around.

"A monster is eating people!"

"Run!"

"Get out of my way!"

Chaos erupted. Someone fell in the crowd and was instantly submerged by countless feet. The chaos reached a boiling point.

However, the scene inside the subway entrance gates was quite different.

The relatively spacious passageway inside the gate was packed with people still in shock, and even more people were constantly squeezing in through the passageway.

They heard the deafening explosion, felt the violent tremors, and heard the chilling screams.

"Outside... What's outside?"

"It seems they're talking about a monster?!"

"Close the gate! Close the gate now! It's coming!!" A man covered in sweat and with disheveled clothes finally squeezed out of the passage and immediately yelled at the staff guarding the gate, gesturing wildly.

"Monster, monster! I saw it! I just saw it with my own eyes!" The man's completely distraught face and impatient demeanor convinced the staff.

The group of people turned pale and exchanged glances.

"Quickly! Lower the gate!" the squad leader roared, his voice trembling.

One person quickly pressed a button, and a buzzing motor sounded as the heavy metal gate began to slowly descend.

"Don't close the door! My wife is still outside!" A man rushed towards the gate without thinking.

"My child! Please! Wait for my child!" a mother cried out, pounding on the gate.

"Open the door! This is dereliction of duty! Many people haven't even gotten in yet! This is murder!"

The situation inside the gate also instantly spiraled out of control.

Those who wanted to close the door to save their own lives and those who wanted to save their loved ones were torn together.

The heavy gate creaked and groaned under the combined forces of the inside and outside, its descent speed was severely slowed down, and it even began to deform due to the pressure.

"Bastards! Do you want to kill everyone?!"

"If we let it in, we'll all die!"

Please, please open the door!

The disheveled staff looked at the desperate chaos before them, and through the cracks, they saw the monster the man had mentioned was already outside eating skewers.

The last trace of struggle in their eyes faded, and they found their companions, nodding with difficulty.

run!

The group decided not to fight back, turned around without hesitation, pushed aside the crowd behind them, and desperately fled into the depths of the subway.

Having witnessed the monster's terror, they knew it was completely beyond their ability to fight back.

The gate went out of control, becoming even more deformed under the tearing of the crowd, emitting a series of ear-piercing metallic groans, and could no longer descend.

Some people took the opportunity to climb out through the gaps, and the people inside dragged them in one by one.

puff!

The dark red tongue was flung in again, stabbing the family members who had just reunited.

In their desperate eyes, it was swallowed.

Gulu.

The toad grinned with a strange smile and tried to stick its head out to squeeze inside. Although the passage was a bit narrow, its body was slippery, and it managed to squeeze in little by little.

That ridiculous gate did absolutely nothing.

While drilling, it also has time to use its tongue to break the legs of some people, preventing them from escaping, before slowly enjoying them.

"Evil beast! Looking for death!"

A loud shout came from behind. The toad still had half of its butt sticking out, but that didn't stop it. A human head with a blood vessel connecting it to its head was seen in the eye socket, and it looked towards the subway entrance.

What you can see is a human riding a low-displacement scooter and wearing a food delivery uniform.

That was Miyamoto Hayato working part-time.

He was straddling a slightly worn-out scooter, his eyes under his helmet fixed on the toad's half-buttocks and thighs that were still wriggling outside the gate.

He was here because the auto repair shop closed down and the owner ran away to avoid danger, so he came out early in the morning to deliver food and earn some money.

Unexpectedly, the seal of Mount Fuji was broken, and monsters invaded the city.

The reason I came here was because a friend asked me to come to Shinjuku Station to take refuge. When he arrived, he saw corpses everywhere (trampled to death, and they wouldn't eat frogs if they weren't fresh).

His friend was unreachable by phone, his fate unknown, perhaps even inside this monster's belly! Thinking of this, Hayato's anger surged.

"You man-eating beast!" His eyes were bloodshot, and rage surged violently in his chest.

Om-!

A strange rumbling sound came from beneath him.

That ordinary scooter seemed to be infused with an invisible force, and its outer shell instantly turned red and scorching hot!

Intense red flames spewed from the wheel hubs, making the entire car seem to be ablaze. Surrounded by flames, the car body structure emitted a clanging sound as the metal stretched and deformed.

Just like the transformation in a tokusatsu film, in the blink of an eye, a dilapidated scooter expands and deforms, turning into a steel motorcycle with grotesque lines, burning with flames, and full of a sense of heaviness.

The menacing front of the vehicle is the head of a roaring, fire-breathing tiger, with drill-like horns on its head. The tires and body are engulfed in solid flames.

"Die!"

Hayato roared, his body engulfed in flames from the vehicle, yet the flames did not burn him in the slightest.

He twisted the accelerator sharply.

boom!

The blazing chariot, like a cannonball, tore through the air with a piercing shriek, carrying an unstoppable momentum. The burning horn on the front of the chariot pierced straight at the exposed rear half of the toad's body.

Duang!

A dull, sliding sound.

The expected carnage did not occur; instead, a dark red energy ripple spread from the point of impact.

The motorcycle's violent kinetic energy seemed to be completely absorbed and dispersed by that shield in an instant.

The enormous reaction force hurled the tank and Hayato away, leaving two charred tracks in the ground.

The floating human hair that the toad had come to check on the situation let out a mocking cackle, as if taunting his overestimation of his abilities.

It was too lazy to even turn around completely, and continued to wag its tail as it squeezed deeper in, focusing on enjoying its meal.

"Damn it!" Hayato steadied the vehicle, looking at the stubborn shield and the monster's disdainful attitude, he was furious but helpless.

Just then, a simple dialog box popped up on the game system's virtual screen.

[Moon: Feel the power of your chariot; you haven't yet unleashed its full potential.]

[Falcon: What do you mean?]

[Moon: Your abilities are focused on that car, right? Then treat the car as part of your body, command it, feel it.]