Chapter 0:
Prologue
Sumihei (Charcoal Soldier)
[Somewhere in China]
[18 September, 1943]
"How could this happen, how could this happen, how could this happen..."
Tanaka Masaru never wanted to be a soldier. All he wanted was a quiet, peaceful life. He could have become a carpenter, a farmer, or even a charcoal burner. He could get himself a pretty, caring girl who takes care of him, and the two of them would build a happy family.
Literally anything is better than fighting for a cause Masaru couldn't care less about.
Apparently, fate had other plans for him. He simple wasn't fast enough to escape when the recruitment officers arrived without a single warning at his small, backwater village. Within an hour, every single able-bodied young man in the village was "persuaded" into joining the Imperial Army, including Masaru. After two months of vigorous but pointless training, he and all the other recruits were shipped to China.
Things went to hell real quick after that.
He could hear gunshots, explosives, screaming and lots of other things from all sorts of directions. Everywhere around him, soldiers of friendly and opposing sides are firing their rifles, or engaged in close combat, or screaming in pain.There are also lots of dead bodies.
Masaru clutches his rifle with both his hands. He was sweating so profusely his army uniform is drenched. His feet are wobbling. Do they seriously expect a country bum who barely received proper training to arrive at a battlefield and starts killing random strangers? He has never even killed a fly before, much less a human-
"GRENADE!"
He looks up. Someone tossed a stick grenade towards his direction. He was always a little slow, and reacted two seconds too late. When he finally snapped out of it, he dived to the left.
BOOM!
Masaru managed to dodge on time, and the grenade exploded harmlessly somewhere on his right. The explosion caused a small dust cloud that obscured his view. The smoke also made his choke and cough. He need to get up and get away from the cloud-
"Ouch!"
He tried to get up, but ended up tripping. For some reason, he couldn't feel his right leg. Wait a second.
Where did the lower half of his right leg go?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
[18 September, 1943]
"How could this happen, how could this happen, how could this happen..."
Tanaka Masaru never wanted to be a soldier. All he wanted was a quiet, peaceful life. He could have become a carpenter, a farmer, or even a charcoal burner. He could get himself a pretty, caring girl who takes care of him, and the two of them would build a happy family.
Literally anything is better than fighting for a cause Masaru couldn't care less about.
Apparently, fate had other plans for him. He simple wasn't fast enough to escape when the recruitment officers arrived without a single warning at his small, backwater village. Within an hour, every single able-bodied young man in the village was "persuaded" into joining the Imperial Army, including Masaru. After two months of vigorous but pointless training, he and all the other recruits were shipped to China.
Things went to hell real quick after that.
He could hear gunshots, explosives, screaming and lots of other things from all sorts of directions. Everywhere around him, soldiers of friendly and opposing sides are firing their rifles, or engaged in close combat, or screaming in pain.There are also lots of dead bodies.
Masaru clutches his rifle with both his hands. He was sweating so profusely his army uniform is drenched. His feet are wobbling. Do they seriously expect a country bum who barely received proper training to arrive at a battlefield and starts killing random strangers? He has never even killed a fly before, much less a human-
"GRENADE!"
He looks up. Someone tossed a stick grenade towards his direction. He was always a little slow, and reacted two seconds too late. When he finally snapped out of it, he dived to the left.
BOOM!
Masaru managed to dodge on time, and the grenade exploded harmlessly somewhere on his right. The explosion caused a small dust cloud that obscured his view. The smoke also made his choke and cough. He need to get up and get away from the cloud-
"Ouch!"
He tried to get up, but ended up tripping. For some reason, he couldn't feel his right leg. Wait a second.
Where did the lower half of his right leg go?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
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