Prologue The Producer Vanishes
The real world. Japan. Tokyo. Chiyoda Ward. Nagata District.
It was a rainy day. The buildings seemed huddled together, their sodden heads drooping. A gloomy sight.
“If only it were sunny…,” Shirase muttered, brushing the drops of water off her suit. “This just makes a grim task all the more grim.”
Shirase was visiting a particular office building along with several male personnel.
“Welcome. How can I help—?”
“We don’t have an appointment, but our business is compulsory, so we’ll be going straight in.”
“Uh…r-right! Please proceed.”
One glimpse of the permit their higher-ups had provided, and the receptionist waved them onward to their destination.
“We’ll take up positions in the hallways in the event our target tries to flee. You proceed as planned, Shirase.”
“I am to consider my own safety my first priority and take no unnecessary risks, correct?”
“Exactly. If the target chooses to ignore warnings and resist, call for help, and we’ll handle things from there. It’s your call to make.”
The male personnel fanned out to their positions.
On her own, Shirase headed toward the office labeled PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SECTION #4.
“I feel very strongly this is not my job…but I was charged with the task of informing her. As my name is Shirase, I can hardly refuse.”
Shirase entered the room, ignoring staff surprised by the sudden intrusion. She moved swiftly through the rows of desks to the boss’s office at the back.
She paused for a moment outside the door to pull an envelope from her briefcase.
The envelope contained a document. A formal salutation followed by a pile of legalese that boiled down to, “We’re cutting off negotiations and resorting to force.” A declaration of management’s verdict.
Their final notice.
“I had intended to leave this to the heroic family once again…but the executives moved faster than anticipated,” Shirase said, speaking a bit too loud for someone talking to herself. “Considering the target’s credentials, perhaps they had no choice, but personally, I consider it a shame.”
She waited a very long time before opening the office door.
“Pardon me. We last spoke during the Materland incident. Once again, my name is Shirase, and I’m here to inform you… Oh?”
The office was extremely tidy, no personal possessions at all. Just a desk and a shredder.
On the desk were a ballpoint pen, a few document pages, and a desktop computer, the monitor covered in Post-it notes.
There was no sign of the target.
“She wasn’t here…? No, that seems unlikely.”
Shirase pressed her finger to the document on the desk and found the ink not yet dry. Someone had clearly been working here moments before she had arrived.
Then Shirase saw the computer screen. The browser was open to a familiar address:
www8.cao.go.jp/ksn/mmmmmorpg…
The same address Shirase had typed to send a certain boy into the game world.
The target’s location was clear.
“Our journey here may have been in vain, but I welcome this outcome.”
One drawer of the desk was open a crack. Inside was a knitting kit and a photograph, the frame of it covered in adorable decorations.
Shirase picked up the frame, gazing at the photograph and nodding to herself.
“A chance still remains…so I must hasten to play my part.”
She put the office’s sole personal touch, a precious treasure the owner could not bear to be without, back in the drawer.
And then she accidentally dropped the final notice in the shredder on her way out.
On that day, an uninvited guest entered the world of MMMMMORPG (working title).
This was a disaster. That someone would wreak havoc on the entire world.
They appeared at the edge of the game world in a howling blizzard, their eyes filled with loathing for everything that world represented.
They fixed their gaze on something occurring far, far off in the distance.
Not a soul noticed that gaze…save for one single person.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login