Chapter 2: Return from Another World
When Hayato opened his eyes, a familiar landscape spread out before him. It was the high school he had been attending when he was first summoned.
"Is this... my classroom?"
Hayato muttered as he looked around. The classroom itself seemed familiar, but it had been three years already. Naturally, the students had changed, and there was no way his desk would still be here. It was daytime, but there wasn’t a single person in sight, and silence reigned over the classroom.
"Is it the weekend or something?"
If it was the weekend, that might actually be fortunate. If it were a weekday and a man dressed in medieval European-style formal wear suddenly appeared in the classroom, the students would be completely shocked. Then again, some of the male students might secretly rejoice.
—A little part of me wants to meet their expectations.
If Hayato, now the center of attention, were to declare, "I’m searching for a hero in another world. Could someone come, please?" someone might stand up with a crash. In reality, though, it would be like dealing with a black company in the Japanese food industry. Moreover, Hayato himself couldn’t transfer to another world.
Lost in such thoughts, Hayato changed into the school uniform from three years ago, which he had stored away in spatial storage. He would look suspicious in the other world’s attire, but in a school uniform, he might be mistaken for a student. At least, by appearing as a student, he’d be able to talk to people before being reported as a suspicious person.
"How should I explain the past three years?"
If he explained that he had been summoned to another world, the person would likely be at a loss. Letting out a sigh as he thought about this, Hayato walked out into the hallway.
The building was the familiar school building, and he felt relieved by that. But the empty school left him with a growing sense of unease. Then, from a distance, he heard a strange groaning sound.
—What is that?
The unmistakably abnormal sound made Hayato feel wary. On a weekend afternoon, it was unlikely anyone would be making such a noise at school. Had a teacher fallen ill, or had an intruder gotten in?
Remembering that he, too, was a suspicious person, Hayato made his way toward the sound. If it were a teacher, he could talk to them, and since he had physical abilities comparable to a brown bear, he didn’t need to worry about losing to any intruders. As Hayato turned the corner of the hallway, he found a zombie standing there.
"Whoa!?"
The reason Hayato identified the figure as a zombie was because zombies existed in the other world. Zombies were powered by magical energy, so they didn’t need to feed on humans. However, they bit humans to spread a virus. Once infected with the virus, a person would die and become a zombie.
Initially, zombies weren’t completely brain-dead and were about as smart as a drunk person. They could use weapons, open doors, hide, and ambush. However, the zombie Hayato encountered had likely been a zombie for quite some time. It groaned loudly and widened its eyes at the sight of its prey, then opened its mouth wide.
"I just got back from another world, too..."
Thinking that it looked like he was going to have to fight again, Hayato’s body moved on its own. A spear pulled from the space storage traced a path like a shooting star. The zombie’s head was destroyed in an instant, and it collapsed to the ground.
"...Haa."
Looking down at the fallen zombie, Hayato let out a deep sigh and, without putting the spear away, walked toward the staff room.
The zombie he had encountered seemed to have been a zombie for a few months. If such a creature was wandering around, someone would usually have reported it by now. If it was still walking around, it meant that the country hadn’t been able to address the situation even after months had passed.
"If I go to the staff room, I might get some information."
Having attended the school regularly, Hayato at least remembered the location of the staff room. When he arrived there, the door was unlocked, but it was completely empty. There was a television, so he tried pressing the remote, but it didn’t turn on.
—It’s not just out of batteries, is it?
He even tried pressing the power button on the television itself, but there was still no sign of it turning on. Giving up on getting information from the television, Hayato looked around the staff room. In the back, there was a cluster of desks with whiteboards lined up. When he approached, he saw that the whiteboard had the contact information for the Kirishima City Disaster Response Headquarters, the police, fire department, the education board, and shelters. Next to the names of the organizations, an "X" had been marked.
"Does this mean they can’t be contacted anymore?"
It was a bit of a guess, but it seemed likely to be the case. However, the whiteboard only listed the contact information available at the time, and there was no information about when the situation had started. Things that everyone knew didn’t need to be written down. As Hayato glanced over the desk, he saw a file summarizing the situation.
"Impressive, teacher."
Hayato couldn’t help but feel impressed as he opened the file. The first date listed was around the time he had been summoned to the other world, three years ago. It seemed that a portion of humanity had been turned into zombies on a global scale.
"...Huh?"
Hayato was left speechless. According to the records, it was estimated that an unknown virus had spread through the atmosphere and infected people. It was likely referring to the zombie virus.
However, in Hayato’s understanding, the zombie virus spread when zombies bit humans. If the concentration of magical energy required for the zombie virus to function was high enough, it could spread through magic. But the idea of it spreading on a global scale was unheard of in the other world.
As he pondered this, Hayato came up with a possibility.
—Maybe on Earth, creatures don’t use magical energy, but there’s plenty of it stored up for the virus to spread?
Perhaps the magical energy needed for the virus to spread was abundant on Earth. So, the virus spread globally, riding on magical energy. If humanity on Earth had no immunity to the zombie virus...
"The virus that spread explosively with magical energy infected some humans, turning them into zombies."
It wasn’t entirely impossible, Hayato thought, and he continued reading the file.
The outbreak of zombies had caused global chaos. Newly made zombies, although they looked normal, behaved like drunk people and couldn’t speak. The abnormal behavior was obvious, but since they still looked human at first, anyone who didn’t know about zombies might not have realized they were already dead.
If a family member turned into a zombie, the first reaction might have been to try and convince them to stop biting rather than immediately knocking them out. And once bitten, those people would become zombies, and the infection would spread worldwide.
"Even in America, with their guns, they couldn’t control the zombies."
New zombies weren’t fully brain-dead at first. They could stagger but still run and use weapons. In America, where civilians could own guns, the zombies could shoot guns as well. They would shoot humans with guns and bite them, creating more zombies. Military zombies might have even fired missiles. Even in a drunken state, they could still do that.
The records in the file were as serious as Hayato had imagined.
• Within about six months of the outbreak, the world could no longer import fuel.
• Electricity, gas, water, and the internet were all shut down, and urban areas fell into shortages.
• Agriculture, fishing, and factory operations halted, making food production difficult.
• After about a year, looting spread through urban areas and eventually reached rural areas.
Japan had managed to maintain order for about a year after the outbreak. However, zombies had appeared even in the Self-Defense Forces, and they had been shooting machine guns at their allies, so it was clear that the chaos was inevitable. It was impossible to restore order. Shelters had been set up in various places, but after a year and a half, food couldn’t even be transported. Hayato’s alma mater was designated as a shelter, but the surrounding area turned into a lawless zone.
After fuel supplies for emergency vehicles were cut off, no one was left to stop the looters, and the shelters soon began scavenging for supplies. At least, this was how the situation in Kirishima City, where Hayato had lived, was recorded.
"Maybe the zombies got inside somewhere."
The file left in the staff room ended around a year ago. It seemed that Earth had turned into a world overrun by zombies. Having understood the general situation, Hayato closed the file.
"Maybe islands are safe, though."
If Hayato were in the position of the Prime Minister, he would evacuate with elite Self-Defense Forces personnel. Maybe places like Izu Ōshima or Hachijō-jima, where zombies couldn’t physically reach, would be good. He would have the Self-Defense Forces clear the islands of zombies, allow farming, and then reclaim Japan, which had been taken over by zombies, while living leisurely in a safe zone.
Hachijō-jima was warm, and there would be plenty of fish to catch.
—Before I was summoned, I used to watch fishing videos.
As he remembered this, Hayato left the school building, which seemed to be full of zombies.
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