True? Protagonist

Cheng Kui sat on the ground, scooting backward again and again as he stared at the sky in disbelief, utterly at a loss over the battle raging there.

He had only gone out to buy some soy sauce when he saw a strange middle-aged man walking toward him. Then, everyone on the street vanished in an instant. A huge group of people appeared from nowhere and surrounded that man, attacking him nonstop. Some used firearms, others bows and arrows—it was like a battle spanning eras. What happened to the peaceful everyday life he had been promised?

"It's useless. The power binding you is weakening!" The middle-aged man in a black suit, dressed like a successful businessman, tapped the ground with his gentleman's cane. Every bullet and arrow flying toward him turned to dust and vanished.

"Against the combined forces of so many beings, humanity is merely making a futile last stand. Your defenses are collapsing bit by bit!" The man's words carried a peculiar power. As those people heard him, visions of their defensive lines crumbling appeared in their eyes.

Those visions were not entirely illusory. They were one possible future, something highly likely to happen—and that was precisely what shattered people's resolve most thoroughly. Not everyone could face a future of destruction.

"Run!" A busty girl with a youthful face came before Cheng Kui and pulled him backward. The battle behind them grew increasingly fierce. The suited man moved like a phantom; whenever he appeared behind someone, that person would turn into black ash and disappear.

"W-What is that guy?" Cheng Kui's eyelids twitched wildly. He quickened his pace as he fled with the girl. That middle-aged man had nearly reached him just now. If nothing unexpected had happened, he would have turned into black ash too, so he