Chapter 32. The Story of the Emergence of Gates

A bullet saturated with a deep red color was ready to fly towards the mannequin; all that was left was to allow it to do so. As soon as I released the bullet, streams of air seemed to ripple from it, enveloping it. The bullet not only destroyed the mannequin's head; its damage reached the chest, forming a small void there. Surprisingly, not only I was astonished, but also the examiner standing behind me. With his mouth agape, he watched me until I spoke.

"I suppose I've earned a rank B?" I said with a smile.

"Unexpectedly, your magical abilities are stronger than your physical ones. You certainly deserve a rank upgrade," he replied.

"I hope I can get a new pass today," I said enthusiastically.

"Creating a pass takes only a few minutes, so you can follow me and wait for your card in the museum," the manager replied.

So, after his words, we left that room. As we left, I glanced at the spot where the mannequins stood and saw how they were automatically replaced with new ones. I was, of course, surprised by what I saw but quickly hurried to follow the manager. He led me to a room adorned with posters depicting excerpts from articles and photographs. The very first poster contained words left by the president of the country at that time.

"Our country, like many others, fell victim to suddenly appearing monsters. Unfortunately, we are not gods, so we could not foresee such a possibility. I express my condolences to all the families and relatives of those who died in this incident. This incident showed us our vulnerability and the inadequacy of the state to take care of every citizen of the country during such large-scale events. Therefore, following the example of such countries as the USA, I have decided to militarize the population. Every citizen of our country will be able to purchase weapons and everything necessary for it. All we require is the official registration of the weapon. Taking such countries as the USA as an example, we decided to use their standards and laws for carrying weapons. Our country joins others and declares that day a day of mourning."

When I read this address, I could not believe my eyes. I saw no consequences of that incident around me.

"Just look at the date of the president's address, then you will understand when it happened," Ever suddenly said.

After her words, I sharply turned my head to the corner of the poster where the date was written: 20XX.0X.1X. Seeing the date, I checked today's date on my phone: 20XX.1X.2X. It turns out that almost 15 years and 3 months have passed since that moment, and I appeared in this world after the annual day of mourning. This realization shook me a bit. Calming my mind, I went on to explore the posters.

Only now, after thinking a little, I felt a sense of loss akin to losing something important but long forgotten. I don't know why I can't feel the fullness of emotions inherent in a "citizen" or "patriot" of the country. Perhaps it's because I'm not from this world, as if my subconscious doesn't want to accept this world. I don't know...

The next poster displayed statistics on deaths. Sadly, more than a billion people died in that catastrophe, and slightly more than a quarter of a billion were listed as missing. As for the number of wounded, it was one and a half billion people. So, almost 3 billion people were affected, even though the world's population was nearly 7 billion at that time.

Speaking of my feelings after reading about the loss of almost half of the people on Earth, I felt something akin to regret, but it can't be said that I perceived it as my own loss. Still, in me, there is no attachment to the world itself, nor to the people in general who are in this world. I think if such a thing had happened in my original world, I would have experienced completely different emotions. Comparing my feelings after the news of this or that event, where there were victims, I felt myself, oppressed, lamenting the deaths, but now I seemed like a viewer watching a series or a movie on the screen.

Next was a poster with data on the losses of countries worldwide. What surprised me was the percentage distribution of losses. According to the statistics, countries with less dense populations and less armed populations suffered the most. Unfortunately, a neighboring country was a vivid example. Due to the large distance between settlements and cities and the poorly armed population, more than 35% of the country's population suffered from injuries and deaths. Of that total, more than half were wounded, a quarter were missing, and a quarter were killed. If you count, the number becomes colossal.

After reading this poster, I felt more emotions, but without crossing the personal threshold. Feeling only a little bitterness, maybe even a weak sense of loss, I understood that this number goes beyond a simple incident. The total number of wounded and killed is already counted with 7 zeros, indicating colossal losses. Perhaps because of everything I read, my mood worsened, and already under a depressed mood, I cast my gaze on the next poster.

Although the previous poster served as an example of an unfavorable outcome, the next one illustrated some of the best-case scenarios. One of the notable examples was a country known for its Eagle and a pistol named after it. The abundance of weapons among the population allowed them to defend themselves with minimal losses, as the remoteness of settlements posed no problem. In these remote areas, people successfully repelled monsters for an extended period, during which the country's army, encountering the monsters along the way, managed to eliminate them.

After reading this information, my already subdued state became even more somber. Understanding the simple truth outlined in the next poster, which detailed statistics on the weapons held by the citizens of various countries, added to my despondency. Summarily, if citizens of the countries that suffered the greatest losses were more heavily armed, a significant number of casualties could have been avoided. Though the governments of these countries cannot be blamed, as no one could have anticipated such a violent shift in the world's development. The more peaceful a country, the less weaponry should be in the hands of its citizens—a truth prescribed before the day of the global tragedy. I couldn't resist reading the remaining posters, as I still hadn't grasped the full picture of what had happened.

Reading the remaining five posters, some of which even depicted dungeons and several types of monsters, provided me with possibly all the information available to ordinary people. In summary, on the day of the tragedy, portals simultaneously appeared worldwide, unleashing hordes of monsters a few hours later. The portals varied in shape, color, and size. Initially, small portals, or portals of small size, released Level 1 monsters. Notable examples of such monsters included goblins, kobalds, skeletons, and others. Exiting the portals, these monsters indiscriminately attacked everyone they could, even at the cost of their lives.

An hour after the appearance of the first group of monsters, larger portals opened. From these portals, Level 2 monsters emerged in large groups. Orcs and centaurs are good examples. Their massive bodies and great strength made a significant impact. They inflicted the most damage to the world's population. Following them, portals of increasing size opened. From them emerged Level 3 monsters. Monsters like Minotaurs took control of centaurs and jointly attacked survivors. An hour later, portals opened from which giants, or more precisely, titans, emerged. There were only 2-3 of them per portal, but by taking control of lower-ranking monsters, they began large-scale destruction of cities. Many had already given up by that time, thinking that the world had come to an end, forgetting that the last unopened gates remained.

The last gates opened only a day later when a large part of the monsters had been destroyed. Thanks to this respite, the worst outcome was avoided. The last gates contained monsters resembling dragons, but the worst was when a Lich emerged from them. It took control of fallen monsters whose bodies had not been destroyed. Under its control, the army of the dead finished off the survivors, leaving only ruins behind. There were two such Liches. Their killings were paramount not only for the countries they found themselves in but for the entire world. The first countries used weapons that ranked first in destructiveness. After a thermonuclear explosion in the affected area, not a single monster remained.

Surprisingly, unlike Liches, dragons occupied the territory around their portals, making those areas forbidden for humans. Later, these portals were given a national-level rank. The main reason for this rank was the monsters, or more precisely, the dragon. Dragons were often solitary, occasionally with a pair in one portal. As in our mythology, dragons were incredibly powerful and possessed magical abilities, making them real killing machines. The remaining monsters regarded dragons as rulers, though occasionally, it resembled the worship of gods. At that time, only one dragon wreaked havoc, unleashing wave-like attacks on cities with the help of subordinate monsters; it practically destroyed the city located in its portal's territory. Even heavy military equipment couldn't handle it, and even a nuclear missile strike left only a wound on it. Still, thanks to that wound, the dragon retreated to its portal.

Complete cleansing of its portal, or more precisely, the dungeon hidden inside it, occurred only five years after the catastrophe. It took over 100 individuals awakened to a level no lower than A. To this day, portals appear worldwide, which people try to clear before monsters emerge on the surface. The portals with dragons remaining from that time, however, remain untouched due to the significant number of sacrifices required to clear them.

Having read to the end, I almost felt all the pain that people who lived through that time experienced. Although it's more accurate to say it was a soulful pain, as I, in a way, lost my native world. Even though it was just a little, a small part of me assimilated with this world, making my inner self accept this world as its own. Almost reaching a consensus with my inner self, I was rudely interrupted, causing me to lose the sense of belonging to the world that I had acquired a minute earlier. Although it can be forgiven, as he brought me an updated pass.