Chapter 1: Return of Winter
Knock, knock, knock...
The bedroom door was knocked on.
"Shirou, the bath is ready, hurry up and go take a shower."
Mrs. Orihara's gentle and soft voice came through.
"Coming!"
Shirou stood up and walked out of the room.
After opening the door, a beautiful young married woman stood nearby, her lustrous, bright red hair smoothly tied into a braid resting on her chest. She looked at Shirou with a smiling face.
"I told you I don't need company to take a bath..."
Shirou said, feeling a little speechless.
Mrs. Orihara had always liked to do this since he was able to toddle. Now that he was finally in primary school, this behavior was genuinely starting to trouble Shirou.
"Oh dear~ That's right, Shirou is already seven years old in the blink of an eye~"
After saying this in a slightly playful tone, Mrs. Orihara smiled and left.
Shirou breathed a sigh of relief, then entered the shower room. After closing the door, his expression became a little solemn.
"What should I do..."
Shirou, who had been reincarnated into this world and born as a baby seven years ago, was currently attending primary school.
In these seven years, Shirou had understood what kind of world he was in.
--- The World of Type-Moon!
The place he was currently in was the Type-Moon world, specifically Fuyuki City during the period of the Fourth Holy Grail War!
It was a place where seven mages summoned Heroic Spirits to fight each other, all for the sake of a broken cup that spewed out blood and twisted every wish it granted!
In fact, the moment Shirou realized all of this, he immediately suggested to his parents to move directly out of Fuyuki City.
In Shirou's eyes, this city was simply a heap of jokes, impermanence, and accidents piled together.
During this period, when the Fourth Holy Grail War was approaching, going to Chiba, going to Saitama, going to Ikebukuro... anywhere was safer than staying in Fuyuki City!
Unfortunately, Shirou was currently only a seven-year-old child, and many things were beyond his control.
Even gentle parents like the Orihara couple would not abandon their decent jobs in Fuyuki City and immediately move to an unfamiliar city without hesitation just because their seven-year-old child said they wanted to move, especially when nothing had happened.
And just recently, Shirou's memories started showing some abnormalities.
For some reason, fragments of memories that shouldn't exist—memories of dying in various ways—would occasionally flash through Shirou's mind.
In every memory fragment, he was trying to do something, but failed every time.
However, these memories also brought some benefits, allowing him to begin skillfully mastering certain skills, such as combat techniques, the use of firearms, and counter-surveillance...
Pulling his thoughts back, Shirou looked at his reflection in the mirror embedded in the washstand.
Brownish-red hair, brown pupils, a fair face, eyes with a hint of stubbornness, and eyebrows shaped like lightning at the ends.
Because he perfectly inherited the genes of the Orihara couple, Shirou was quite popular with girls at school, and his family was also well-off.
If there were no Holy Grail War, he probably would have lived an easy and comfortable life.
After a comfortable bath, he returned to his room, only to realize it was already ten o'clock.
Shirou went back to his room and looked around his bedroom.
What met his eyes was a room the size of six tatami mats. There wasn't much furniture, but it was all exquisite.
Thanks to Mrs. Orihara's careful attention, the furniture was meticulously cleaned, the few decorations on the desk were uniquely crafted, and there was even a small potted plant by the window sill.
Looking at this cozy room, Shirou's eyes also became gentle; all seven years of his memories were here.
Shirou glanced out the window.
The color of the sky had turned to a black like the dark night sea.
As the hour grew later, the air became chillingly cold, like a knife cutting through.
Beneath such a night, the Fuyuki Bridge, which divided the old and new districts of Fuyuki City, blended into the darkness along with the Mion River below.
Looking at the scenery of the new district, Shirou's gaze became increasingly profound.
"I wonder if the Holy Grail War has started... I only know it started on the year 1994, but I don't know the specific date..."
As he pondered, sleepiness set in. Continuing with meaningless thoughts would only be mental exhaustion, so Shirou lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
...
Morning.
The warm winter sunlight shone through the half-closed curtains, and specks of dust floated in the orange-yellow beams.
"Shirou~ Breakfast is ready, it's time to get up~"
To the urging of Mrs. Orihara, Shirou awoke from a series of strange dreams, such as "a magical girl running into the house," "Gudako suddenly showing up to drag him to a Singularity," "the Greek gods lining up to PK," and "an illusory red dragon opening its giant mouth toward him..."
Opening his eyes and seeing the grey-white ceiling, Shirou was slightly lost in thought.
Suddenly, he noticed a small white dot had appeared in the lower right corner of his vision, he didn't know when.
"What is that?"
As Shirou focused his attention slightly, the white dot rippled, and immediately, a semi-transparent panel suddenly unfolded in the center of his vision.
"This is..."
Looking at the sudden appearance of the semi-transparent panel in front of him, Shirou was a little distracted.
[Name: Orihara Shirou]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 7 years old]
[Height: 134cm]
[Race: Human]}
[Bloodline: None]
[Special Abilities: None]
[Physical Strength: 6 (10)
Neural Reflexes: 7 (10)
Vitality: 6 (10)
Mental Power: 27 (10)]
At the bottom, it was noted that the values in parentheses were the human standard values.
"It looks a bit like a game's status panel, but I seem to be a little weak."
But thinking about it carefully, reaching these values at the age of seven didn't seem very low.
Perhaps it was because Shirou had been doing appropriate exercise all along.
"But my Mental Power is a bit high... How did it get to this level?"
As Shirou was seriously analyzing the situation, the room door was knocked on again.
"Shirou, aren't you getting up? The food is getting a little cold, and you'll be late soon..."
It was Mrs. Orihara calling Shirou. She was confused that her child was still staying in bed and was about to be late.
In the past, this child used to wake up on time every day.
However, even though she was slightly puzzled, Mrs. Orihara's second reminder was still in that gentle tone; she was a gentle mother.
"I know, I'm coming right away!"
Shirou quickly turned over and got out of bed, dressed quickly, and then left the room for the bathroom.
As Shirou started brushing his teeth, Mrs. Orihara spoke to him from the living room: "Your lunch box is on the table, remember to grab it yourself later."
"Yes, okay."
Shirou readily agreed, then filled the cup with water to rinse, gargled quickly, and hastily stuffed the lunch box into his school bag before heading to the entrance.
"I'm leaving!"
As Shirou reached out to close the front door, Mrs. Orihara's gentle voice came from inside the house.
"Be careful on your way!"
Hearing that voice, Shirou smiled and replied.
"I will!"
Then, Shirou stepped out and walked toward the school.
.
.
.
It was currently winter.
Fuyuki City, as a small coastal town whose name came from its extremely long winter, actually has a generally mild climate and is rarely hit by severe cold.
However, the recent weather was an exception.
Even with the warm winter sun high in the sky, there was still a cold sensation, like a frigid knife blade pressed against the cheek.
As Shirou walked on the road, his gaze would occasionally shift to the small white dot in the lower right of his vision.
No matter how much he concentrated on it, the status panel would only frequently appear and disappear before his eyes.
"System?"
Shirou tried calling out tentatively.
The next second, a somewhat feminine electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
[I am here.]
He didn't expect it to actually exist!
Shirou became slightly excited and quickly asked.
"System, do you have any other functions?"
[Yes.]
The feminine electronic voice answered very concisely, giving off a very cold feeling.
Shirou didn't mind and continued to ask the system.
"Then how do I use it?"
[This function is pending activation.]
"Huh?"
Shirou was stunned by the reply.
"How can I activate it?"
[This function is pending activation.]
The voice was still just as flat.
"Are you a tape recorder?"
He tried a few more times, but the answer was the same.
"There must be some way to activate it..."
The school was already in sight. Shirou, preoccupied with his thoughts, stopped talking to this emotionless system and stepped into the campus.
Humming a song, Shirou walked up the stairs of the teaching building.
"Starting today, I'll go to the toilet by myself~"
Reaching the second floor of the teaching building, Shirou pulled open the back door of the classroom. What came into view was a group of chattering elementary school students, with distinct distance between the girls' groups and the boys' groups.
After reaching his seat, Shirou propped up his face and looked boredly out the window at the bare cherry tree, whose pale purple-brown branches had somehow turned white from the frost.
The surrounding elementary students' discussions drifted into his ears.
"Did you watch that Kamen Rider yesterday?"
"I did, I did! It was super cool, right! He could even transform in a giant!"
"I wanna grow big too!"
"Hey, did you secretly go to the arcade yesterday? I saw you playing King of Fighters!"
"Waaah! Did you actually find out!?"
"Hmph hmph~ You don't want your mom to know that you secretly went to the arcade to play King of Fighters, do you? Then be good and... take me with you after school!"
"Ugh... fine."
The students did not interfere with each other, forming their own small groups to discuss topics like Kamen Rider and King of Fighters with their friends.
Although he looked seven years old, Shirou's mentality was not of the same age group, so he had no interest in these things.
In the bottom right corner of the blackboard at the front of the classroom, today's date and the names of the students on duty were written in white chalk.
"It's already Friday today..."
That meant that after today, it would be Saturday.
.
.
.
The primary school lessons were rather boring for Shirou.
After school, he left the campus immediately.
It was now twilight.
The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the streets and alleys, with orange light plunging between the buildings.
As the time grew later, pedestrians on the streets gradually became scarce.
In fact, Fuyuki City had issued a curfew in the past few days.
Recently, a series of bizarre murder and kidnapping cases had occurred, and the police had appealed to citizens to reduce night outings; smart people heeded this directive.
Something bad was hiding in the night of the new district, and human instinct should have sensed it.
The sudden crack in the once peaceful daily life shook everyone's hearts.
Shirou, who was almost home, suddenly noticed something and looked up at the sky.
The sky above Fuyuki City was stained with blood, and even the moon became increasingly red.
Boom---!
A violent explosion sounded from the direction of Mount Enzou.
Immediately after, Shirou saw "it."
It was a black sun, hanging high in the sky, like a symbol of the end of the world.
"All the World's Evil...!?"
The moment he saw the black sun, Shirou's pupils involuntarily contracted.
There was no time to run, or perhaps there was simply nowhere to run.
The black mud, filled with the curse of "All the World's Evil," which possessed the power of destruction that burns all life, was now pouring down in torrents from the black sun in the sky, like a waterfall.
It wasn't a black sun, but a gigantic "Hole," and the black mud was continuously flowing out from the inner side of the "Hole."
The slaughter thus began. The mud of death, having smelled the breath of human life, turned into a scorching curse and assaulted them.
The waterfall of curses falling from the sky did not stop, and the black mud instantly submerged a large number of buildings.
Surging black waves spread throughout the streets and alleys of the city, sweeping away the helpless people like a tsunami.
Burning houses, burning gardens.
Everyone, whether they tried to flee or were paralyzed with terror, was burned to ashes without exception.
"All the World's Evil," which had waited for sixty years inside the Greater Grail, seemed to celebrate its brief release by mercilessly stripping away all life it came into contact with.
"Damn it! It had to be today!"
Shirou sped up, running towards his home.
However, this street, paved with asphalt and concrete, was no longer its usual color under the cover of the black mud.
The "Hole" in the sky disappeared, and the black mud no longer surged out, but the mud had caused large-scale fires, and those who failed to escape turned into charred corpses one by one.
The night sky was stained by a grand inferno, and a banquet of death was endlessly playing out on the ground.
The dying lives and the ruined city were thus displayed before Shirou.
A large patch of black mud fell from the top of a building, engulfing Shirou's small, seven-year-old body.
At that moment, Shirou felt an intense pain in all the bones of his body; his young body simply could not bear such agony.
In the last moment before his consciousness was about to fade, Shirou saw a scene.
A golden-haired man broke free from the black mud, standing atop a pile of ruins, his red eyes gazing down with an indifferent look at everything.
Beside him, a heavily built, black-haired man also stood up from the black mud. His eyes held impatience and madness, and an intense desire for something.
Both men were currently looking in another direction, staring at the figure that emerged from the leaping flames.
It was a man whose clothes were somewhat tattered and stained with black grime, walking unsteadily like a sleepwalker, wandering in the burning street.
His formerly sharp gaze was gone, his eyes hollow and listless. In that absent-minded state, he probably couldn't even recognize what was right in front of him; all his fighting spirit had long turned into nothingness, leaving only a void.
The man walked like a zombie, embodying the atmosphere of the apocalypse.
In Shirou's blurred vision, only this final scene remained.
Gradually, consciousness drifted away from reality.
Shirou felt his pain disappear, and his sense of existence vanished along with it. Even his thoughts seemed to blur within the boundaries of dimensions.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the perfectly emotionless electronic synthesized voice that followed was so clear.
[Beep.......]
[Host death detected...]
[Forced restart...]
[10%...]
[30%...]
[60%...]
[80%...]
[100%...]
[Restart complete!]