Smoke rolled slowly through the empty streets.
The group stood in silence for a moment after Kuro disappeared.
No one liked the feeling he left behind.
It was like standing in the shadow of something sharp and dangerous.
Ren finally exhaled loudly.
"…I officially vote we never meet that guy again."
Akira chuckled.
"Unfortunately that's not how this game works."
Rei turned to me.
"You saw the event marker earlier."
I nodded.
The map flickered in my vision again.
A bright signal pulsed about a kilometer away through the ruined districts of Tokyo.
EVENT SIGNAL — ACTIVE
Akira leaned closer.
"Events usually mean rewards."
Ren frowned.
"And probably monsters."
Mira added calmly,
"And possibly other subjects."
Ryu finally stepped away from the Alpha monster corpse and lifted his hammer.
"Then we move."
No one disagreed.
The group began walking through the destroyed streets.
Broken glass crunched under their shoes.
The city looked worse the farther they traveled.
Entire buildings had collapsed.
Smoke rose from shattered highways.
Some streets were completely blocked by fallen concrete.
Yet the system marker kept pulsing.
Distance: 940 meters
Ren walked beside me, whispering.
"I still don't trust hammer guy."
"He saved us," I said.
"Yeah," Ren replied, "but he looks like he could accidentally destroy a building."
Akira overheard and laughed.
"Don't worry."
He glanced at Ryu.
"He probably could."
Ryu ignored them.
His eyes constantly scanned rooftops and alleyways.
Like a soldier expecting an ambush.
Rei noticed.
"You think someone is following us."
Ryu answered immediately.
"Yes."
The group slowed slightly.
Mira's knife appeared in her hand again.
Akira twirled his spear.
My instincts tightened.
Something felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Then—
A car exploded.
The blast thundered from the alley to their left.
Metal and glass erupted outward.
Ren shouted.
"WHAT THE—"
A blur shot out of the smoke.
Fast.
Too fast.
The creature slammed into Akira and sent him crashing across the street.
The spear flew from his hands.
The monster landed between them.
It was unlike the others.
Larger.
Thicker armor-like skin.
Long curved claws.
Its back was covered in sharp bone spikes.
The system message flashed violently.
BETA CLASS MONSTER DETECTED
Akira groaned from the ground.
"Okay… that one hits harder."
The creature lunged again.
This time toward Mira.
She rolled aside just in time.
The claws tore through the concrete where she had been standing.
Ryu charged.
His hammer came down like a falling meteor.
The monster blocked with one claw.
The impact shattered the pavement.
But the creature didn't fall.
It screeched and slashed toward Ryu's chest.
He barely stepped back in time.
"Fast," he muttered.
Ren grabbed a metal pipe from the ground.
"I'm starting to hate this city."
The monster turned toward him.
Ren froze.
"…Bad idea."
I moved first.
The combat system activated again.
INSTINCTIVE COMBAT — LEVEL 1
Everything slowed slightly.
Angles.
Timing.
The creature leapt toward Ren.
I slammed into it from the side with the pipe.
The blow deflected its attack just enough.
Ren stumbled backward.
"THANK YOU!"
Akira sprinted back into the fight.
He grabbed his spear mid-run and drove it toward the creature's back.
The blade pierced between the bone spikes.
Black blood sprayed.
The creature shrieked.
But instead of weakening—
It grew angrier.
Its body twitched violently.
The system message changed.
BETA MONSTER — RAGE STATE
Akira blinked.
"Oh come on."
The monster spun and slammed its tail into him.
Akira crashed into a nearby wall.
Concrete cracked.
Mira darted in again and slashed the creature's leg.
But the blade barely scratched the armored skin.
Rei shouted,
"Its joints!"
Ryu heard her.
He stepped forward and swung the hammer sideways.
The strike smashed into the creature's knee joint.
CRACK
The monster staggered.
I moved instantly.
The pipe stabbed into the same weak point.
The joint snapped completely.
The creature collapsed to one knee.
Akira jumped up from the rubble.
"Now!"
Ryu raised the hammer high above his head.
For a moment the entire street held its breath.
Then—
BOOM
The hammer crushed the monster's skull into the pavement.
The ground shook from the impact.
The creature twitched once.
Then stopped moving.
Silence returned.
Ren leaned against a broken car, breathing heavily.
"…Okay."
He pointed at the corpse.
"That one was definitely worse."
Akira wiped blood from his lip.
"Yep."
A system message appeared again.
BETA MONSTER DEFEATED
EXPERIENCE DISTRIBUTED
Rei looked around quickly.
"That explosion earlier…"
She pointed toward the destroyed car.
"That wasn't random."
Everyone realized it at the same time.
It had been a trap.
Akira slowly turned toward the rooftops.
"Well…"
He said quietly.
"Whoever set it probably just watched the whole fight."
A slow clap echoed from above.
Everyone looked up.
A figure stood on the roof of a nearby building.
Tall.
Wearing a dark coat.
A long blade rested across his shoulder.
Kuro.
The hunter.
He smiled slightly.
"Impressive."
Ryu growled.
"You followed us."
Kuro shrugged.
"I wanted to observe."
Ren shouted up at him.
"You almost got us killed!"
Kuro tilted his head.
"You survived."
His cold eyes focused on me.
"Which is what I wanted to see."
Akira spun his spear impatiently.
"You planning to come down and fight?"
Kuro shook his head.
"Not yet."
He gestured toward the distant skyline of Tokyo.
The dark clouds above the city had begun swirling violently.
Lightning flickered inside them.
The system message suddenly appeared across my vision.
Bigger than before.
Brighter.
GLOBAL EVENT STARTING
Everyone froze.
Another line appeared.
BOSS MONSTER SPAWNING
Ren slowly looked up at the sky.
"…That doesn't sound good."
Kuro smiled faintly.
"That."
He pointed toward the distant storm forming over the ruined city.
"…is where the real trial begins."
Then he stepped backward.
And vanished from the rooftop.
Thunder exploded across the sky.
And somewhere deep within the ruins of Tokyo…
Something enormous roared.