Some time has passed.
Kenji has continued doing what he did before,
following any sound and trace he can find—
and eating anything that moves.
That also includes the humanoid creatures.
"Another one down!" Kenji shouted, almost joyfully as he tore off the head of a creature that looked similar to that of a snake.
After he had hunted down a few of the creatures,
he realized something.
He now feels pleasure in the act of killing them.
At first, he tried to tell himself it was only because of the taste.
Because the moment he bit into something living, that rich, almost absurd flavor spread through his mouth and made his whole body feel warm.
But that wasn't all anymore.
Now, even the chase felt good.
The moment he heard something running through the mist, his body reacted on its own.
His ears would twitch.
His muscles would tighten.
His mouth would curve into a huge grin.
And before he even had time to think, he would already be moving.
Fast.
Far too fast for something that looked like a goat.
"....This is bad."
Kenji stood over the torn remains of another creature, staring down at the blood on his hands.
It didn't disgust him anymore.
That was the problem.
The first few times, he at least thought it was weird.
Now he was more annoyed that the blood had splashed on his fur.
He let out a slow breath and looked around.
The red mist still hung low over the ground, thick and crawling, as if it were alive.
The sky remained that same burning red, with not a single normal thing in sight.
No sun.
No birds.
No wind.
Only those distant cries that never seemed to stop.
He had long since stopped hoping to find something comforting here.
There was nothing comforting in this world.
Only prey.
And predators.
Kenji crouched and tore another strip of flesh from the corpse in front of him.
The taste was already gone.
Rotten.
He spat it out with a grimace.
"Still disgusting after death, huh..."
He wiped his mouth and stood.
Then he froze.
A sound.
Not the frantic, messy sound of one of the little creatures skittering through the mist.
Not the loud stomping of the werewolf-like things either.
This one was softer.
Measured.
Like something that knew exactly where it was going.
Kenji narrowed his eyes.
He lowered his body without even thinking about it, his breathing growing quiet.
His body knew how to hunt now.
That realization sent a brief chill through him.
Even so, he moved forward.
One careful step at a time.
The sound grew clearer.
A dragging noise.
A wet one.
Kenji parted the mist with one arm and saw it.
A creature was feeding.
It was tall—taller than him by a full head—and thin in a way that made it look wrong.
Its limbs were too long.
Its back bent strangely.
Its skin looked almost black beneath the red light, and its arms ended in hooked claws that dug into the body beneath it.
It had no visible eyes.
Only a mouth that split far too wide across its face.
Kenji stayed still.
The thing ripped a chunk from the corpse below it and swallowed.
Then its head twitched.
Slowly, it turned toward him.
"...Well, that's not good."
The creature let out a sharp, broken screech.
In the next instant, it vanished from where it stood.
Kenji barely reacted in time.
A claw flashed through the air and passed in front of his face.
The force behind it made the mist around them burst apart.
He jumped back.
The creature lunged again.
And again.
Unlike the werewolf, this thing didn't waste movement.
Every strike was precise.
Every step was controlled.
Kenji's heart pounded.
For the first time in a while, he actually felt pressure.
Not fear, exactly.
Something hotter than that.
Excitement.
His lips curled into a grin before he realized it.
"What the hell is wrong with me...?"
The creature attacked once more.
Kenji twisted to the side and drove his hand into its ribs.
But the moment his claws touched its body, he felt resistance.
Its flesh was hard.
Not like muscle.
More like tightly packed leather over stone.
The creature slammed its elbow into him and sent him sliding across the ground.
Kenji dug his feet in and stopped.
Pain spread across his side.
He looked down.
A long cut ran from his shoulder to his waist, dark blood seeping through his fur.
"...It actually hurt me."
Instead of panic, a strange thrill ran through him.
The creature came forward again, slow this time, as if it had judged him and decided he was no longer worth rushing.
Kenji clicked his tongue.
"You're pissing me off."
That strange energy inside his body—the one he had felt before against the werewolf—stirred again.
It had become easier to sense over time.
Usually it sat quietly inside him, like heat buried deep in his chest.
But whenever he fought something strong, it rose.
He clenched his hand.
The energy flowed.
Down his shoulder.
Into his arm.
His muscles tightened at once.
The fur on that arm puffed up slightly, and his claws looked sharper somehow.
The creature moved.
Kenji moved too.
This time he didn't dodge backward.
He stepped in.
The creature's claw slashed toward his neck—
Kenji caught its wrist.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
For a moment, both of them stayed like that.
The creature pushed harder.
Kenji grinned.
Then, with a violent twist, he tore the arm off.
A horrible shriek echoed through the mist.
Hot blood sprayed across his face.
Before the creature could retreat, Kenji grabbed its head with his other hand and slammed it into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The shrieking stopped.
Its body twitched beneath him.
Then went limp.
Kenji panted, staring down at it.
His hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
He slowly looked at the torn arm still in his grip.
It was alive.
Still twitching.
He brought it to his mouth and bit down.
The flavor exploded across his tongue.
Richer than anything before.
Denser.
Stronger.
The moment he swallowed, that energy inside him surged wildly.
Kenji staggered back.
"—gh?!"
Pain shot through his whole body.
He dropped to one knee.
It felt like something hot was moving beneath his skin.
His bones ached.
His muscles twitched over and over, swelling and tightening without his control.
"What... is this...?"
He pressed a hand against his chest.
His heartbeat had changed.
It sounded heavier.
Slower.
But each beat carried more force than before.
Kenji looked at his hand.
The claws had grown longer.
Slightly darker too.
Even his arm looked thicker than it had a moment ago.
"...Did I evolve?"
He laughed a little.
Then the laugh faded.
Because that wasn't the only thing that had changed.
The pleasure was stronger now.
The hunger too.
Just looking at the corpse on the ground made his mouth water.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, a thought quietly surfaced.
Eat more.
Kenji stared at the body.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then he forced himself to take a step back.
"No."
His voice came out lower than before.
Rougher.
He swallowed.
"No... I'm not just gonna become some mindless thing."
Even as he said it, the words felt weak.
Because the truth was simple.
Every day in this world, it was getting harder to care.
Harder to remember what was normal.
Harder to remember who Kenji even was before all this.
He looked up at the endless red sky.
There was no answer there.
Only that same crimson light, watching everything without warmth.
Kenji wiped the blood from his mouth and started walking again.
But this time, his expression wasn't as carefree as before.
He had changed.
Not just a little.
Something inside him was slipping further away.
And deep in the mist ahead, as if responding to that change,
something roared.
Kenji stopped.
Then slowly smiled.
"...Fine."
He lowered his body and began moving toward the sound.
Whatever was waiting for him next—
he would kill it.
And eat it.