45 The cursed song of a lonely god

By the time the truck entered the town, the rain turned into a drizzle. Lightning didn't try to strike Shin again during that time, but ahead, he saw something that made him wince slightly—a traffic jam.

As the truck's movement slowed, Shin reached out for the car radio and twisted the knob that changed the frequency.

Some hip song…

"—the weather tomorrow is expected to be cloudy, with a chance of—"

"—had to arrest an entire shipment of contaminated two-headed fish. Please, take—"

"Shop with ease, buy from Owson! Call the number—"

A vaguely familiar Western rock band. That sounded better than ads, at least.

Shin pressed his lips together and removed his hand from the radio. There was still no sign that Aratanawaru's name was broadcasted yet or was about to be, and every minute that passed in this uncertainty made Shin more and more restless.

"Ah, Queen!" the truck driver hummed. "Leave that station playing, kiddo. You played with the frequency enough for now, aren't you? If you are bored, I have some magazines in the back."

Shin shook his head. "No, thanks."

He wondered what it meant that this world had bands from the real one. Was it because this world was loosely based on Shin's Earth? Maybe Aratanawaru knew more—he summoned all the transmigrators, after all—but Shin didn't want to ask him.

The truck slowly moved through the jam. Each time it stopped, Shin wondered if he should run the rest of the way, but before he could decide, it would speed up for a while, only to slow down again. It seemed to be faster than running on average, but it was infuriating. Thankfully, they eventually entered emptier streets.

When Shin saw the broadcasting tower ahead, only fifteen minutes passed since he entered the town, but it felt like much more. By then, Tetsu was emanating waves of impatience, and Shin's own patience was close to exhausted.

"I will get off here," he said to the truck driver, who rubbed his neck in confusion, but nodded.

"Alright, if that's what you want, kiddo… Let me pull over somewhere."

The truck stopped on a free part of a road near the sidewalk. Shin opened the door, ready to go, when the music on the radio stopped playing. A peppy voice of the DJ replaced it.

"And that was 'Sheer Heart Attack' by Queen! But as much as I like Western songs, it's time to give locals a chance to shine. The next song on our playlist is called 'You Can't Escape' by Aratana—"

The rest of the word was cut off by a loud crash of Shin's fist hitting the radio.

The truck driver gasped. "What the hell are you doing?! Did—Did you just punch through my radio?! What is wrong with you?! Didn't your fist get hurt punching it?!"

'I'm so fucking glad that Aratanawaru's name is a mouthful,' Shin thought, pulling his fist free from the electronic remains. He lifted a cold glance at the truck driver.

Even now, the man looked more concerned with Shin's wellbeing than with the damage to his property…

"A piece of advice—if you want to live a long and happy life, cover your ears and drive out of this town, mister," Shin said.

Although outwardly he stayed as calm as ever, inwardly he was thinking a mile a minute.

Shin was late from stopping the transmission only by a few streets! Now he had no idea how far Aratanawaru's name spread. He had to adjust all his plans to the new circumstances. He also still had to gather his things from home before going anywhere, and staying in this town clearly wasn't an option anymore.

Ignoring the pale-faced and gaping like a fish truck driver, Shin forcefully opened the truck's door and jumped out. The street outside was deceptively peaceful.

He paused there, thinking.

Should he go to the radio tower and break it anyway in order to win himself some time? Or should he go straight after his things?

A loud crackle of static from the side made Shin turn his head to a loudspeaker on a nearby utility pole. His eyes widened.

"You can't escape from Aratanawaru.~~ I'm already here, in your mind, in your soul!~~" the DJ of the station sang. His singing voice was terrible, and the volume of the loudspeaker spread it over the entire street.

Suddenly, the passersby stopped in their tracks. They all turned to Shin like puppets controlled by some higher power. Each of them had the same look in their eyes—the sharp and mocking gaze Shin saw on Aratanawaru in his dream.

All as one, they charged at Shin with gleeful grins.

A dozen ordinary people weren't dangerous, but it was just the beginning.

Aratanawaru wouldn't be able to puppet every person in the city like that, not until he reached the peak of his power. But he could harvest their souls to power himself up, or he could use politicians and other important people to order others to hunt Shin down.

Just one word said to a wrong person could destroy an entire society. At least transmigrators before Koto were smart enough to not spread Aratanawaru's name.

Shin grit his teeth, cursing Koto in his mind, and tried to remember which way was his home.

'Boss! We have to run!' Tetsu shouted in his head. 'Now there definitely will be more people coming. We aren't strong enough yet to fight them all at once. But I won't let you get caught. Trust me!'

Shin forced himself to calm down despite Tetsu's growing agitation.

'I know, Tetsu. I do.'

He picked a direction and began running. The nearest passerby threw himself at him with outstretched hands, trying to grab Shin. Others followed immediately, latching onto him like a small horde of monkey zombies.

Shin pulled the crowbar out of his backpack and swung it, bashing heads hard enough to crack skulls like porcelain and throwing people aside. Tetsu partially appeared from his body, throwing her own slashes, kicks and punches, making blood flow out of gashes and punctured holes.

In a few seconds, all the controlled people were lying on the crimson ground around Shin, either dead or close to it; but more were already coming from far away.

Shin began running again. Only a few dozen meters later, he had to stop to demolish another group of people puppets. One of them latched itself on Shin's leg so hard that he had to break the man's dead fingers to free his limb.

The loudspeakers on the streets were playing the same shitty song, repeating Aratanawaru's name over and over. It was so loud that Shin almost didn't hear the approach of a car behind him.

He kicked aside the dead body and turned around.

Only a few meters away was the truck he just left behind, driving at him at full speed. The driver's face had the same cruel expression of a human puppet.

Shin's eyes widened.

A collision was inevitable.