Chapter 1: The Apocalypse is Just Another Monday
I always imagined the end of the world would be a little more dramatic. Maybe explosions, military sirens, people screaming in the streets. You know, the Hollywood kind of apocalypse.
Instead, I was sitting behind the counter of a 24-hour convenience store in Tokyo, staring at a zombie attempting to buy a rice ball.
The guy—if you could even call him that anymore—had already lost half his jaw, which made eating a challenge. But I had to respect the effort. He still clutched a few crumpled yen notes in his rotting fingers, standing in front of the register like he was next in line.
"Sir, we don't accept decomposing currency," I said, staring at him bnkly.
The zombie groaned. Or maybe he was trying to argue. Hard to tell.
I sighed and reached for the baseball bat I kept under the counter. "Look, buddy, store policy says if you can't pay, you can't stay."
He lunged at me.
I smacked him in the face with the bat.
The rice ball fell to the floor. I sighed again, but this time out of disappointment. I was kind of rooting for the guy.
---
That was three weeks ago. Since then, Tokyo had turned into a buffet for the undead. I spent the first two weeks holed up in the store, living off expired bento boxes and instant ramen. But the power finally cut out yesterday, and with it, my microwave. That was the st straw.
A man can only eat so many cold meals before he starts questioning if life is even worth living.
So, with my trusty bat and a backpack full of stolen—*borrowed*—supplies, I set out into the city to find something better. Maybe an evacuation center. Maybe a helicopter to Aska. Maybe a vending machine that still worked.
I had standards, you know?
---
My journey didn't get far before I ran into my first human survivor.
Well, sort of.
He was wearing a giant penguin mascot head, so I wasn’t actually sure if there was a human inside.
I found him in an abandoned arcade, standing in front of a cw machine, surrounded by zombies. But instead of fighting them off, he was still pying the game, trying to grab a plushie with mechanical precision.
I had to watch for a second. I mean, if a guy is willing to risk his life for a stuffed toy in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, that’s commitment.
"Hey," I called out. "You realize you're about to be lunch, right?"
He didn’t even look at me. He just kept focusing on the cw machine. "Almost got it."
The zombies groaned, moving closer.
"Buddy, you need to move."
"I just need one more try."
I looked at the horde, then back at him. "Are you serious?"
"Completely."
The machine beeped. The cw dropped. It grabbed a small penguin plushie.
He pumped his fist in victory. "YES!" Then he finally turned around and noticed the zombies closing in. "Oh. Uh. Time to go!"
I sighed, swung my bat, and started clearing a path. He followed close behind, still clutching his stupid plushie like it was the most valuable thing in the world.
---
After we got to safety, I finally got a good look at him.
Underneath the penguin head, Kenji Tanaka looked like your average guy—messy brown hair, slightly too skinny for his own good, and a grin that never quite disappeared. The problem was that he *never took the mascot head off.*
“Seriously?” I asked. “You’re just… keeping that on?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “This thing saved my life. Zombies don’t bite me in the head if they think I’m already a giant animal.”
I stared at him. “That’s not how zombies work.”
He shrugged. “Worked so far.”
I rubbed my temples. “Right. Anyway, I’m Ryo. You got a pn, or are you just running around Tokyo like an idiot?”
Kenji held up his plushie. “I was on a quest to retrieve this.”
“…Why?”
“Because it completes my collection.”
I blinked at him. “…The world is ending.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t finish what I started.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, new question: do you want to not die? Because I’m leaving Tokyo and heading somewhere less… dead.”
Kenji tilted his head. “Where?”
“Aska.”
His eyes lit up. “Oh! I heard about that! It’s safe there, right?”
“That’s the rumor.”
“Great! I’m coming with you.”
“…I didn’t ask.”
“Too te! We’re bonded now. Fate brought us together.”
I rubbed my face. “Why do I feel like I’ve made a mistake?”
Kenji just grinned and patted my shoulder with his plushie. “Don’t worry, buddy. With me around, you’ll never be bored.”
I had a bad feeling about this.
But I also had no choice.
And so, with a baseball bat, a backpack of stolen goods, and a guy wearing a penguin head, my journey to Aska officially began.
---
STATS:
*Ryo Takahashi*
Strength: ★★★☆☆ (Can swing a bat. Gets tired afterward.)
Fitness: ★★★☆☆ (Decent stamina. Hates running.)
Shooting: ★☆☆☆☆ (Once shot a BB gun. Missed.)
Medical: ★★☆☆☆ (Can put on a Band-Aid.)
Wits: ★★★★☆ (Actually pretty smart. Mostly uses it for sarcasm.)
Attitude: ★★★☆☆ (Too tired to care most of the time.)
Morale: ★★★★☆ (Would be five stars if he found a working microwave.)
*Kenji Tanaka*
Strength: ★★★☆☆ (Surprisingly strong. Can throw a chair at a zombie.)
Fitness: ★★★★☆ (Runs like his life depends on it. Because it does.)
Shooting: ★☆☆☆☆ (Cims he’s great. Always misses.)
Medical: ★★☆☆☆ (Watched a YouTube tutorial once.)
Wits: ★★★☆☆ (Brilliant moments mixed with dumb decisions.)
Attitude:
★★★★★ (Too optimistic for his own good.)
Morale: ★★★★★ (Has a plushie. Life is good.)
---
Next Stop: Korea. If We Don’t Die First.
