LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 138
As global warming began to rear its head, people faced unprecedented early heatwaves, record-breaking snowfalls, and various other weather phenomena. Yet, that was merely a hint that something was amiss with the Earth.
No one expected such a rapid and severe impact.
No one foresaw the arrival of a third ice age.
No one imagined a sudden end.
This was also true in this world.
“What the…?”
Standing before a wall of snow, I let out a hollow laugh as I tried to push the barrier away. However, the solidly packed snow didn’t budge even slightly against the strength of an adult male.
While I was stuck grunting and trying to excavate the snow, a sharp voice came from behind me.
“Get out of the way.”
“Uh, um—?”
Feeling the intense pressure that practically radiated danger, I quickly stepped aside, and Galm took his stance and threw a punch. True to his recognition as an S-class villain thanks to his sheer physical prowess and martial arts, Galm easily shoved aside the mound of snow that I couldn’t even budge.
Was it said that water doesn’t compact? Apparently, that wasn’t the case for snow.
Leaving behind the now-round, cocktail-like snowball, I peered outside. Before I knew it, snow was pouring in through the shattered glass of the main entrance.
“…Of course.”
“Did you figure something out?”
“Just take a look! This isn’t a natural phenomenon.”
From a human’s perspective who had already experienced global warming, this certainly wasn’t a climate anomaly caused by either global warming or technological development. And as a scientist, I shared the same opinion.
Even if an ice age were to occur, snow wouldn’t fall like this. An ice age doesn’t mean snow will blanket the entire Earth; it simply doesn’t snow enough to trigger an ice age.
Such an event could never occur naturally. It was impossible. What that implied was simple.
“There’s a culprit behind this incident.”
“Oh…”
Whether it was a villain, a devil, a fairy queen, a divine spirit, or even a singularity like me or Arima that came from another world, I didn’t yet know.
What was certain was that this situation was artificially generated. And if it was created artificially, then it could also be stopped artificially.
“So? Who is the culprit?”
“Well, we need to figure that out, don’t we?”
“What? I thought with your incredible super intelligence, you’d already figured it out.”
“I’m not Sherlock Holmes or anything…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Waving it off, I stepped back onto the elevator. Now that I’d realized this wasn’t a natural phenomenon, it was time to stop this situation.
I didn’t know who the culprit was, but one thing was clear.
“You’re done for.”
He had disturbed all of humanity.
Yes, not just me, but all of humanity.
In other words, a declaration of war against the heroes, villains, magical girls, fairies, devil worshipers, dragons, elves, and all sorts of supernatural beings existed in this world.
Naturally, I thought this incident would be resolved quickly.
* * *
“What the hell kind of situation is this?”
“Is this the work of villains again?”
“Bring out every means we can use! Quickly!”
As predicted by the scientists, humanity soon grasped that this situation wasn’t a natural occurrence. Even if it were natural, it would still be problematic. Snow pouring in the amounts sufficient to fill a lobby several meters tall?
Even if it was natural, it was serious enough that a swift task force should be assembled. And that’s exactly what they did.
Mayors gathered, calling in top experts from every field, combining every effort across all cities to lighten the weight of the snow pouring down from above. They even sought out shamans who worship divine beings and weather scientists who were prepared for climate anomalies to try to find the source of this snowstorm.
However, it didn’t take long for all those efforts to go to waste.
“There’s… no source.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“This snowstorm suddenly appeared like a superpower out of nowhere. With that, predicting its trajectory is impossible…”
“—Is our general also at a loss? Normally, this would not be a natural occurrence but rather something influenced by someone’s intervention.”
Realizing this crisis was unnatural due to the support of science and theology, the mayors of each city immediately began their search for the culprit. They also recruited experts to help with this endeavor—a profiler to speculate on the criminal’s psychology and even psychics with levels of power jokingly ridiculing typical detective stories.
However, even these two couldn’t yield any real results.
“You want me to profile a lunatic who could create a snowstorm burying the whole world?”
“Wow, such grandiose excuses for saying you can’t do it. And what about you?”
“…Hmm, this is odd. There are just too many suspects.”
“Too many suspects? What does that mean?”
“I mean, everyone here is a suspect.”
Everyone present was shocked by the psychic’s statement about the crime’s culprit. No way had these lunatics plotted to end the world without anyone knowing, and I was unwittingly part of that scheme?
Fortunately, the psychic’s subsequent statement clarified that idea.
“Emily, who’s trembling while hugging her doll, is a culprit, and Kentucky Bob, who’s selling on the street, is a culprit too, and even the guard outside keeping watch over us is a culprit.”
“…This isn’t the time for jokes.”
“I apologize, but that’s what my ability says. At least over a billion people in this world are culprits behind this situation.”
The psychic continued, explaining that he wasn’t a detective or a police officer but simply a psychic—and that his ability only reveals the outcome without explaining the processes involved. In other words, it merely identified the culprits.
What if the culprit was a single individual? From a distance, we could send a curse or dispatch heroes to apprehend them. If capturing them was difficult, we’d eliminate them instead. Either way, the crisis would be resolved.
However, what if the culprits were all the people in this room? What if every one of billions on this planet was a culprit?
We couldn’t kill or capture them all, and thus the situation escalated into uncontrollable chaos.
“Over a billion people in this world are culprits? What does that even mean…?”
“Does that matter!? Didn’t you say we’re all culprits!? What on earth have you all done—!”
“Well, it’s hard for people who barely see each other to contribute much! And if billions of us are culprits, isn’t that a sign we’re all accomplices unbeknownst to us—?”
While arguments flared, the mayors simultaneously turned towards the assistant who had burst through the door. When the top authority of each city’s administration focused their gaze on a single person, the assistant unconsciously stepped back in surprise.
However, that pause was brief, as the assistant quickly pulled out a smartphone they had been holding.
“Communication is connected! Mayor! We may be able to get in contact with the outside!”
“Suddenly? Why is communication connecting all of a sudden when the snow is pouring like that?”
“I’m not quite sure yet…”
“Don’t be hasty! Shouldn’t you have figured that out first?”
As the mayor of City C snapped at his assistant, he swiftly seized the smartphone and called the person who should be aware of the whole situation. The highest-level authority available in city administrations: the military commander.
[Greetings. Commander Jin K. I’ve received your call.]
“What is the situation? Why has communication been suddenly connected?”
[Yes, let me explain. A dragon suddenly appeared and breathed fire toward the snowstorm. As a result, the snowstorm was momentarily cleared, and the communication was reconnected.]
“…A dragon appeared?”
[That’s right. I can hardly believe it myself…]
“Where is that dragon now?”
[After breathing fire, it suddenly vanished. We failed to track it. I apologize.]
As the mayor heard the unbelievable news from the commander, a hollow laugh escaped him. A dragon? Wasn’t that the kind of existence you’d only find in fantasy movies?
The mere idea of such a thing actually existing was hard to believe—let alone that it had cleared the snowstorm, if only for a moment.
Why not just say the snowstorm was caused by an ice princess from an ice kingdom?
Recalling a cartoon my daughter watched all the time, the mayor thought maybe that could actually be the case. After all, this supernatural phenomenon had a billion culprits… Then there was certainly a possibility that such a fantasy-like entity could be the true culprit…
* * *
“Hysteria, I told you not to go out recklessly.”
“Oh, why! Dad! That thing sprayed crap all over my house!”
“Not dad, but big brother! And it’s not crap; it’s snow. It’s just moisture in the air that has condensed…”
* * *
“I found it.”
Back in the laboratory, while fiddling with the artificial intelligence, I began reviewing the snowstorm and various hypotheses analyzed by the AI, starting with the most likely scenarios.
Eventually, I came to one conclusion.
About the culprit behind this situation, and how to resolve it.
‘If there’s a problem…’
I continued looking out the window where the snow was falling. It might feel like I could freeze to death even from taking a single step into the blizzard outside.
To resolve this situation, I had to step out into that snowstorm.
Tentatively opening the window and reaching my hand out into the storm, I quickly pulled it back, contemplating.
“Should I just not go out…?”
It was just too cold.
What lay outside wasn’t a joke, becoming a genuine threat.