H.E.E.hive Prologue (Patreon)

“…Next, here is today’s invasion report. Forecasts have been issued for various regions, primarily along the coastline of western Japan…”

The TV had been left on in the living room.

On the screen, the news anchor was matter-of-factly reading today’s invasion forecast.

I had mostly finished packing. All that remained was to tidy up before leaving the house.

I picked up the remote and turned off the TV. Then I unplugged it.

I left the house with my luggage in hand and locked the front door behind me.

No one would ever return to this house.

It was the day I said goodbye to the home I’d known all my life.

I boarded the bus bound for “Mt. Tsumigami.”

One day, the world suddenly changed.

Mysterious invading creatures—officially known as “Invasive Underground Biological Entities.”

Commonly known as the “Tsuchigumo” due to its appearance, which resembles that of a crab or spider, this creature is reported to have suddenly appeared in a mountainous area.

Its exoskeleton is abnormally tough, impervious to all weapons and chemicals.

Furthermore, its behavior is so coordinated that it seems as if the individuals share a common will.

In the blink of an eye, the Tsuchigumo invaded human habitats and threatened to trample civilization itself.

Humanity was powerless to stop them.

—But hope, too, appeared suddenly.

The awakening of a “hero.”

It happened the moment a man threw himself in front of a child to shield it from a Tsuchigumo attack.

Superhuman strength.

A resilient physique that could not be harmed by anything.

On that day when humanity seemed destined to be trampled underfoot, the power to fight back was born for the first time.

That man’s name was— Oyama Hidekatsu.

He was my father.

My father called himself “Blue Titan” and traveled not only throughout Japan but all over the world.

And he defeated the Tsuchigumo one after another as they appeared.

It is said that it took my father only seven days to wipe out all the Tsuchigumo worldwide.

During that time, he fought without sleeping or resting even once.

The world hailed my father as a savior who had appeared in the modern age.

――But the Tsuchigumo invasion didn’t end there.

A second wave, a third wave.

Time and again, Tsuchigumo’s emerged from active volcanoes and the ocean floor all over the world.

My father single-handedly defeated them all.

However, even the mightiest hero has his limits.

It wasn’t a matter of “stamina.”

The “Blue Titan’s” power is practically limitless.

His speed rivals that of light.

But moving at that speed across the Earth’s surface generates a tremendous shockwave.

Simply moving causes massive damage to cities.

As a result, there was inevitably a “delay” before my father could arrive at the battlefield at a “safe speed” and defeat the Earth Spiders.

Even during that brief moment, one or two incidents of damage caused by the Earth Spiders would occur.

Realizing the limits of protecting the world alone, my father appealed to the government.

He proposed gathering heroes who had awakened their powers, just as he had, and operating them as an organization.

He planned to gather forces from around the world to counter the invasion.

To that end, the International Superhuman Dispatch Organization—

“H.E.E.hive (Heroic Emergency Expeditionary hive)”—was established.

Shortly after the organization’s launch, a second hero emerged.

And a method known as the “Superhumanization Procedure”—which transforms volunteers into heroes—was also established.

Humanity had once again gained the power to fight with its own hands.

Even though my father—someone so close to me—was at the center of this upheaval, it all felt unreal to me.

—No, perhaps that was precisely why.

To me, the Tsuchigumo invasion felt somehow like something out of a story.

When I learned about the “Superhuman Transformation Procedure,” I immediately volunteered for it.

At that time, my father was constantly traveling around the world and didn’t even have time for a proper phone call.

When I finally got through to him, his response to what I told him was—

“I can’t.”

That was all.

That was just like him.

It was too dangerous; he couldn’t possibly send his own son into battle.

I could think of plenty of reasons why.

But…

“I can’t.”

The sound of those words somehow lingered in my mind.

Then one day…

On my way to school, I was attacked by a Tsuchigumo—an attack that hadn’t been forecast.

I didn’t have a moment to escape.

Its massive body loomed right before my eyes. Its sharp legs.

In the very next instant, I would be attacked.

Just as I thought that—

I felt a tingling sensation at my fingertips. Then, my whole body went numb.

Something burst inside my body.

It was hot!

Something enormous welled up from within me.

It was like a “raging torrent.”

I surrendered myself to that current.

The very next moment.

My body had become a roaring bolt of lightning.

And before I knew it—

My body had pierced through Tsuchigumo’s abdomen.

I, too, had awakened as a hero.

Deep within Mount Tsumigami.

That was where the H.E.E.hive headquarters was located.

A massive, pure-white structure that looked as if it had burst forth from the bare rock itself.

It was so modern that it was hard to believe it existed in the mountains, yet it exuded a strange presence, as if it had fused with the surrounding rock face.

Its appearance reminded me, in a way, of a giant mineral specimen.

I passed through the tight security measures one by one using biometric authentication.

And finally, I stepped into the lobby.

A figure walked toward me from across the vast space.

A muscular man clad in a white lab coat.

There was none of the delicacy one might associate with the term “researcher” in his appearance.

If anything, he had the physique of someone who could be sent straight to the battlefield and hold his own.

The man stopped in front of me and extended his right hand.

Dr. Morion.

He was the person who had been waiting for me here.

“Welcome to H.E.E.hive.”

I took the hand that was offered to me.

In that moment, it felt as if all the days I’d lived up to that point had become a distant memory.

Starting today, my new life begins.