YOAW 01

Chapter 01…

“…Where… am I?”

Akio Tanaka, age fifty-one. Divorced, no children. He ran a small construction business in the countryside, doing most of the hands-on work himself—a self-made craftsman through and through. He had long passed the halfway point of his life and had been thinking that maybe it was time to hand the business over to the younger generation and retire…

That day, Akio was carefully inspecting the foundation under the floor of an old house deep in the mountains that he was remodeling. The house was over a hundred years old; charming in its own way, but worn in many places. Japan’s humid climate was especially harsh on wooden structures.

“Hm… this pillar might need to be replaced…”

He measured it, shining his flashlight into the depths of the floorboards. And then—

The ground shook violently beneath him.

“An earthquake!?”

He instinctively ducked, but the shaking didn’t stop. In fact, a creaking noise echoed through the entire house, and in the next instant, the floor beneath his feet gave way. Akio’s consciousness went black.

When he next came to, he was lying in a dense forest. Above him weren’t the familiar cedar trees he knew, but massive broadleaf trees spreading their branches as if to cover the sky. The smell of earth, of thick greenery, filled the air—but it felt different from any forest he knew.

(Was I caught in a landslide or something? But… my clothes and body are strangely clean…)

Oddly enough, he didn’t feel any pain from what should have been a hard fall. He couldn’t make sense of the situation. But nature wouldn’t give him the luxury of staring blankly for long.

“Kyaaa!”

A sharp scream pierced the air. Not just one, but several. Then came the guttural growl of a beast, shaking his eardrums.

Instinctively, his body moved. He ran toward the sound, pushing through the undergrowth. Within seconds, his view cleared, and there they were—wolves? No, bigger. Their fur glimmered like obsidian, their eyes a bloody red. These were clearly creatures not of Earth, about to attack five children.

The eldest girl spread her arms desperately, shielding the younger children behind her. Next to her, a boy around the same age—or slightly younger—wielded a tree branch, trembling but stepping forward. Behind them, smaller boys and girls huddled in fear.

“Stop!!”

From the depths of his heart, Akio shouted as he grabbed a conveniently sized branch from the ground, placing himself between the children and the beast.

(What do I do!? I’m unarmed!)

The beast snorted mockingly and scraped the ground with its forelegs. It was a hopeless situation.

At that moment, Akio acted on pure instinct. Perhaps it was the soul of a craftsman, honed from years of handling wood and tools, guiding him.

—Please… hold! Don’t break! Harden!

Ka!

The branch in his hands seemed to glow faintly for a moment. Or maybe it was just his imagination—but it felt heavier, as if hardened like an ancient oak.

The beast bared its fangs and leapt at him.

“Uooh!”

Akio swung the branch wildly.

Gon!

A dull thud. The beast let out a short scream, “Kyah!” as if struck by an iron rod, and stumbled back.

(I can do this!)

Confident, Akio struck the creature’s head and body several more times with all his strength. The grotesque beast, unable to bear it, twisted away and fled into the forest.

“…Phew… gone…”

The tension broke, and sweat poured from his body. His heart raced. Turning around, he saw the children staring up at him in shock.

The eldest girl spoke, her voice trembling.

“Um… th-thank you for saving us… Who… are you?”

Her eyes reflected a mixture of fear, relief, and caution.

“I’m Akio. Akio Tanaka. Just an ordinary middle-aged man, as you can see.”

He smiled gently, trying to reassure them.

“And you all?”

The girl hesitated slightly, then spoke.

“I’m Ayane. This is Aruto, and Kenta…”

Ayane pointed to Aruto, who had been holding the branch, and Kenta, who still looked stiff and frightened a little behind him.

“…Miko,” a small girl said quietly.

“…Yume,” the smallest girl clutched the hem of Miko’s dress and barely managed to say.

Akio set down his backpack. Luckily, it still contained what he had brought to the worksite. He pulled out several calorie bars and a bottle of water, kept for emergencies.

“For now… eat this to fill your stomach a bit. That must have been tough.”

The children, hesitating, accepted the food and water. Aruto glanced at Ayane, who nodded, and finally, the small hands reached out. From their behavior, it was clear they had been through harsh circumstances.

Akio looked up at the sky. Three moons, unlike anything he had ever seen, shone quietly above.

He had no idea what would happen next. But leaving these small lives in danger was not an option—neither his craftsman’s instincts nor his human compassion would allow it.

(Well, somehow we’ll manage. No, we have to.)

And so, the 51-year-old craftsman Akio’s turbulent survival adventure in another world had, unexpectedly, begun.