Arrival

In a café, two young men sipped milk tea.

"Ian, I've got to say, you're way too cold. If you want a girlfriend, you should put your heart into it and really pursue her. If you always wear that cold expression, no girl's ever going to like you."

A young man in a plaid shirt brushed back his hair and draped an arm over the back of his chair as he teased him.

Across from him, a handsome young man in a suit quietly looked through the documents in his hands. A faint smile touched his lips as he replied.

"Having a girlfriend takes too much time. I'd rather spend that time working hard and building a career."

The man opposite him smiled and shook his head. He glanced at the documents in the young man's hands, then stretched.

"A career?"

"I wouldn't call children's stuff a career!"

"Besides, I'm not like you. I don't enjoy researching Doraemon..."

"Ian, these things are just children's fantasies. At our current level of technology, I'm afraid we won't see any of these amazing gadgets in our lifetimes."

He reflected on it for a moment, then took another sip of coffee and smiled.

"But I do like this job well enough. We only have to throw together a proposal to entertain some kids, and we can live comfortably for a while longer. Don't take it too seriously, Ian. It's just a job."

Across from him, the handsome young man's smile faltered slightly. He fell silent for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"I guess..."

"It's just... a job... You can't call it a career..."

The two finished their coffee, gathered their things, and left.

Both young men were tall and good-looking enough to rival celebrities.

As they walked down the street, they occasionally drew glances from passing women.

But then...

As they passed a street corner, an accident occurred.

A little girl walked happily along the side of the street with a beaming smile, holding her pet cat in her arms. Her mother walked beside her, glancing at her affectionately from time to time.

"Honk!!!"

A loud, piercing car horn suddenly blared.

Startled, the cat broke free of the girl's arms and bolted in panic straight into the middle of the road!

The little girl froze in surprise, then hurried after it, calling out repeatedly.

"Mimi, come back!"

But just then, a dirt-hauling tanker truck came barreling straight toward her.

The drowsy driver, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was so startled that his eyes went wide. He hurriedly slammed on the brakes, but with the truck's speed and load, he couldn't stop in time. He instinctively leaned on the horn.

"Honk! Honk! Honk!"

"Xiaoxun, get out of the way!!"

The blaring horn and cries rang out together!

The girl's mother's pupils contracted, and her voice turned shrill and piercing with panic. She instinctively tried to rush forward, but there was no time to react. It was already too late.

At that very moment...

A tall black figure darted out in an instant!

"Bang!"

The girl was shoved aside, stumbling before she fell to the ground. She stared wide-eyed at the trembling kitten beneath her, still dazed and on the verge of tears.

Behind her...

With a tremendous bang, a tall figure was struck and sent flying, tracing an arc through the air.

"Ah!!"

People gathered around, staring in horror at the road.

"Xiaoxun!!"

The girl's mother rushed to her side and held her tightly.

"Mommy..."

The little girl stared blankly at the middle of the road, her eyes unfocused.

It had all happened in the blink of an eye.

"Ian..."

The man in the plaid shirt rushed into the road, panting heavily, his body trembling slightly. He stared blankly at his best friend, unable for the moment to believe something like this had happened.

Documents detailing Doraemon's gadgets lay scattered across the blood on the ground.

Ian was covered in blood and completely unconscious.

The Hunter world.

Meteor City.

On a rocky stretch of land shrouded in yellow sand...

A black opening suddenly appeared in the sky.

"Bang!"

A small, slender figure fell out of it.

The last memory lingering in his mind was of his body instinctively rushing into the road.

I actually... acted out that childish scenario of sacrificing myself to save someone...

Am I... going to die?

With that thought, he plunged straight into an enormous pile of garbage on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Carrion crows screeched and scattered.

At the same time...

At the far end of this vast land...

Beyond the boundless sea, atop a giant tree that rose into the clouds, a huge crimson eye slowly opened.

Its pupil was vertical, with countless lightning-shaped markings spreading out around it.

Eerily and silently, it gazed into the distance.

It gazed toward a particular spot on the land they regarded as forbidden, as if something it had been waiting for was there.

Meanwhile...

Ian, who had fallen into the garbage heap, knew nothing about it.

All he knew was that his entire body hurt terribly, as if it had fallen apart.

"I'm still alive?"

An unknown amount of time passed.

Ian realized that no one had paid him any attention!

Everything was dark before his eyes, but his forehead was warm, and he smelled the rusty tang of blood.

A foul stench filled the air around him.

He struggled to get up and touched his forehead. Sure enough... a thick liquid coated his hand.

"Damn... my forehead's bleeding a lot..."

Ian had a bad feeling. He had no idea where he was.

If his injuries went untreated, he would most likely bleed and develop an infection.

But what puzzled him was...

He had been injured saving someone. Surely an ambulance should have come to rescue him by now?

Has the world really become this indifferent...?

Everyone just minds their own business...

There was nothing he could do. Though no one was helping him, Ian had a strong desire to live!

"People... really can only rely on themselves..."

Even though he was badly hurt, he still had the leisure to complain to himself.

After venting, however, he quickly began looking for a way out, struggling to crawl forward. Every time he pushed aside the jumbled objects around him, a sharp pain shot through his chest and abdomen.

That made it clear to him that his injuries really were quite serious.

"Fuck..."

"Did I... get knocked into a garbage heap...?"

"If I don't crawl out soon, I'm afraid this stench will kill me..."

Surrounded by darkness, Ian felt as though he had fallen into a swamp.

Heaven knew how much time passed.

Finally, he saw a sliver of light...

He struggled to push aside the foul-smelling objects around him and hurriedly poked his head out, intending to take a deep breath of fresh air. But the sight before him left him dumbfounded.

"Where... the fuck am I!?"

Ian stood there in a daze.

The land around him was desolate. As he looked at the sand-filled landscape, he was utterly astonished.

As far as he could see, there was hardly a trace of any city or its high-rises.

A foul stench hung everywhere, and even... the place where he stood turned out to be atop a mountain of garbage.

All of this...

Made Ian realize that he was definitely no longer on the Earth he knew...

A long while later...

After he had been forced to accept that fact...

Though Ian was somewhat flustered, he had no intention of staying where he was and waiting to die.

He could only set off, resigned to leaving this uninhabited wasteland of garbage behind.

At the very least... I need to find someone first!

But as soon as he raised his hand, he noticed something was wrong!

"What happened to my body!?"

He quickly looked down and glanced at his hands and feet, his pupils contracting!