“I-I need to go, big brother! I… I don’t know what would happen if my parents…”

“I know, Hina. That’s why I need to go and check them for you. Besides, you can’t do it in your condition. If you could walk, maybe I could accompany you. But once we’re out there, you might get sucked into a portal just like this one. Trust your brother, okay?”

“But…. If you die because of this, I…”

“I won’t, Hina. Trust me.”

“Okay…”

Hina had eyes itching to go out and look for her parents. If I were in Hina’s position, I would’ve said and acted the same thing. If my parents were on the line, I would’ve run straight to them and stayed by their side. However, Hina couldn’t, not without getting enough rest from her shaking feet.

After listening to my words, Hina reluctantly agreed to my suggestion and urged me to send her a text message once I learned something. I gave her a nod and left the scene. All Hina could do was watch me dash away without looking back. I would be the first to know Mrs. Himari and Mr. Akira’s condition, not their own daughter.

It took me a few minutes, considering I ran back to our home on foot from our school. The trains were not working, and there were no available buses. There were hundreds of cars running past me every second, after everything. And even if there were a bus that I could take, the hectic traffic would’ve stopped me from my tracks. It was as if the sudden appearance of these portals hindered the general transportation of Tokyo.

The news told us everything. These portals weren’t exclusive to Tokyo. Countless golden magical rings appeared out of nowhere in different countries, paired with a purple fog covering the skies. It was the exact description I had when I saw these portals earlier.

Whenever my head turned in a different direction, traffic posts, houses, and other structures had bent themselves like dominoes in a distorted world. Cars and trucks were tilted or upside down. There were also hints of golden magical circles and purple hues scattering in the atmosphere and growling noises in the distance. I could only assume those voices belonged to the monsters summoned from those damned portals.

Those reporters also stated that flames engulfed some buildings, while others had corpses stacked together on the streets. It was because of the cars bumping into one another, with fire coming out from the adventurers and the monster’s side. When I arrived on the road, the mountain of dead people finally greeted my eyes. It was a… horrifying sight. It wasn’t where a student should loiter around, looking for someone alive. Well, here I was, in the middle of the street, looking for the parents who adopted me.

The smell of something rotting entered my nostrils and even made my eyes watery. Everywhere I went, ambulances and doctors rushed to the scene. However, most medical staff had already announced the time that these people had died. It almost looked like a cemetery.

But I had to continue on and search for my Hina’s parents.

Within a few moments, the familiar road entered my sight, making me form a smile on my face. But that smile immediately disappeared when I stepped foot near the ingress of our home. Everything was different. And the house that I had expected had already been buried on the ground. Nobody greeted me, not even the bones of Hina’s parents or wandering ghosts.

It was safe to assume that Mrs. Himari and Mr. Akira died from the onslaught of monsters coming in and out from the portal. As much as I hated the idea, the entire surroundings told me otherwise. Since this place was infested with various gateways from different dimensions, dying would normally occur. It would be a miracle if Hina’s parents lived after that.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the case. When my eyes wanted to shed a tear, someone within my vicinity caught my attention. A voice of a man shouted behind my back. As soon as I turned around, a couple of police officers, doctors, and firefighters were headed on my way. When they arrived, that group explained everything I needed to know.

“Hey, kid! This isn’t a safe place! Are you looking for your parents?” the police officer asked. “The portals have already scattered on the streets! You need to find the shelter fast! You have your phone with you, right?”

I nodded my head. “Yes. I know where the shelter is! But I need to find Hina… My parents! Can you tell me where they are right now? Their names are Mrs. Himari Amamiya and Mr. Akira Amamiya. Do you know where they are?.... Are they dead?”

I was afraid to ask that question to this group of people. But if I wanted to know the answer, it was best to seek help from the professionals and the adults. I had to.

The doctor tapped my shoulders and flashed me a smile. “It’s a good thing that we found them just recently! Amamiya family, right? They’re staying at a hospital not far from here! You better hurry, kid. Your parents are… unconscious for the time being.”

I thanked the doctor and went towards the hospital, which he explained earlier. I also told the group that I could find the building on my own and they should focus on saving other people who direly needed them. While that happened, a few adventurers appeared on the scene and battled a few creatures that materialised in our surroundings. Luckily, I was already on my way to the hospital and arrived at the entrance. Despite being in front of the hospital, I didn’t feel safe. But several adventurers guarded the place with all their might if monsters and portals had breached the building. And luckily for me, I didn’t have to use my sniper and help those adventurers fend off those beasts. Even if I were there, I wouldn’t be of any help…

Thankfully, it was what the physician had mentioned. Hina’s parents were placed on a ward near to the ground floor. But as soon as I entered inside, a crowd of people squeezed through to enter the hallways. It was as if there was a line for a concert happening soon. However, there wasn’t anything like that. These unfortunate people cried after hearing from the doctors that their loved ones died moments, while others desperately rummaged through their wallets to pay for the hospital fees. It was a war down here that I would eventually battle through.

While hunting down the room for Hina’s parents, I called Hina and narrated everything that had happened. I explained that the house we had turned into rubles, but her parents survived the dangerous occurrences. When Hina heard my voice, she left out a sigh of relief and cried tears of joy. Eventually, she told me she could finally walk and was on her way towards the hospital I talked about.

After ending the conversation, I careened through the hallway and found the room I was looking for. And as soon as I opened the door, a single bed with two people sleeping on it entered my eyes. Those two people had a machine beside them, connected to their nostrils and other pathways of their bodies. A cast also covered their arms and legs to protect them until it could heal on its own. There was a window beside the pair, which showed everything happening in Tokyo. It was chaos down there. But it wasn’t important for now.

“Mrs. Himari, Mr. Akira, are you okay?” I blurted out loud, and rushed to their aid.

However, a doctor who saw me enter inside called out my attention for the umpteenth time. It was a different doctor, apart from the one I met in front of our desolated house.

“Are you their son?” the physician asked. It was a girl dressed in a white coat, with a stethoscope dangling from her neck.

“Yes… Adopted son. They raised me as their own. But the real daughter is arriving soon, doctor.”

“Hmm… I see.” The doctor walked in and observed Hina’s parents. “These are my patients assigned to me for the meantime. We’re already looking at the test results we conducted earlier for your parents. But I believe that Mrs. Himari and Mr. Akira had hit their head and experienced a concussion when exiting the house. Hence, they are in a state of coma. We could only wait for the results and pray for their hasty recovery. I assure you that the hospital and the group of medical staff are working their best to save your parents…”

“Thank you, doctor…. Thank you.”

As soon as the doctor said her fill, she gave me a nod and went to the door. But before anything else, the physician added behind my back. “Unfortunate as it is, your parents…. couldn’t stay here in the hospital for a long time. The tests…. cost them money. If I am not mistaken, they only have three days before we could-.”

—The hospital would kick them out, but the doctor couldn’t say it. She was not the one handling the building or giving calls to the director of this hospital. And even though these medical staff wished to save everyone, the hospital couldn’t cater to everyone in this building. Some people experienced even worse than me and had money to pay for the room.

We weren’t rich. Hina’s parents didn’t have the luxury to save money from their jobs because of our everyday expenses. According to the doctor, they used the little money they earned for the tests, but not for the room.

“I saved some money, doctor. It would roughly give them… my parents to stay here for a week,” I uttered.

I didn’t have any allowance from Hina’s family. But I took dozens of part-time jobs in my spare time. It wasn’t much, but I knew that my money was enough to prolong whatever obstacle was blocking my way. The doctor nodded and finally left the room with a heavy heart. She couldn’t do anything but pity me and my circumstances.

While that happened, Hina emerged from the busy war and cried a river of tears. She must have heard the conversation I had with the doctor. But when Hina saw her parents lying unconscious on the bed, she rushed towards them and hugged them tightly in her arms. It was a…. Heart-shattering moment for me.