I froze in place.
My body was taut, like a string about to snap, my eyes fixed on the terrifying sight filling the bed. The Nomu. A creature created for suppression and destruction.
In that moment, it moved.
It wasn't a sudden rush, but a slow, repulsive crawl. Its swollen, distorted joints began to flex, lifting its heavy body slightly off the bloodstained sheet. It was moving toward me, step by step.
The corroded gray flesh seemed to crack with every movement. The wide slits surrounding where its mouth should be slowly contracted and expanded, forming a terrifying, maniacal grin. The exposed, clotted brain on its head looked like a disgusting mass of dough.
I was looking for teeth in its mouth, but before I could focus, the terrifying Nomu began to make a sound.
"Hee hee hahahaha...."
It wasn't a scream or a roar; it was an incredibly loud, grating mechanical noise. The sound shook my bones, causing direct pain in my eardrums, and a silent scream inside my mind.
"Grrrrrrr... Zzzzzzzzzz... Crrrrack!"
I no longer needed proof. I was the prey from the very beginning.
The instant the Nomu began to lift its entire body, preparing to launch, I moved. I didn't need the weapon now; the priority was escape.
I darted quickly, turning and running toward the partially open door. But the Nomu's speed was completely disproportionate to its slow crawl.
In an instant, its massive body lunged across the room. I heard a muffled, massive impact behind me.
My exhausted body slipped out the door into the pale hallway. I had barely gotten out when I heard a deafening sound directly behind me. The Nomu's huge hand slammed into the wooden wall where my head had been a second ago, shattering the wood and creating a deep crater.
"Grrrrrr... Zzzzz!" The Nomu's irritating sound intensified.
I ran at maximum speed, ignoring the painful burning in my lungs. I didn't know where to go, but anywhere was better than returning to that room. The hallway was dark and filled with rubble and debris. I ran in a zigzag pattern, trying to exploit the agility of my slender body against the Nomu's muscular might.
The Nomu was dangerously close, and I could hear its heavy footsteps echoing on the cracked floor. I saw a corner ahead that I could turn.
I must reach the corner!
I pushed myself hard, but my frail body couldn't handle any more. My physical fitness was desperately low.
Suddenly, my foot caught on something—maybe a rock or a piece of concrete.
I completely lost my balance.
My body flipped, and I fell hard to the ground with a painful impact, tumbling among the rubble. I struggled to lift myself, but my body refused to respond quickly.
In that moment, the Nomu's mechanical noise soared; it was too close. I looked up and saw the massive shadow of the Nomu looming over me.
The Nomu's mechanical noise soared; it was too close. I looked up and saw the massive shadow of the Nomu looming over me.
Its huge, distorted fist was plunging towards me, the size of a slab of rock, carrying immense force that my frail body couldn't withstand. There was no time to think; there was only time for survival.
In a fraction of a second, with one last desperate effort, I pushed my exhausted body to the side.
BOOM!!!
"Grrr, Haaaaaaa!" the Nomu started screaming when it realized its fist had missed me.
The Nomu didn't hit my body; instead, it slammed into the concrete floor beneath my feet with catastrophic force. The concrete shattered into flying pieces, and the impact of the fist caused a miniature earthquake in the place. My body felt the air from the blow like a shockwave, and debris flew around my head.
I gritted my teeth in pain and curses, feeling my toes dangle in the deep crater the Nomu's strike had created.
Fortunately, I had avoided the fatal blow, but the price was that I was now even weaker and more exhausted, and the hallway was dusty and shattered.
I heard a disgusting sound above my head. I felt something cold and sticky land on my hair and head. I looked up in disgust to see thick saliva mixed with the Nomu's blood dripping from the slits around its maniacal mouth.
"Grrrrr... Zzzzz!" The Nomu's sound flared up, and it began to raise its hand for a second attack.
The Nomu was now looking directly at me, or at least approaching savagely where my exposed head lay. Its open eyes were just wide, dark sockets, but it saw me clearly.
As the Nomu prepared to deliver its crushing blow, I sharply turned to my side.
It was there!
A few centimeters from my head, a large glass bottle—perhaps a chemical container or an old storage jar—lay among the rubble. The bottle was thick and heavy.
I didn't think twice.
I lunged for the bottle with one hand, gripping its neck tightly with my fingers. The moment the Nomu started to lower its hand toward me, I summoned the last ounce of strength left in my arm.
I raised the bottle.
Instead of hitting its repulsive body, I directed all my force at the most vulnerable target: its exposed brain.
I plunged the heavy base of the bottle directly into the disgusting mass of dough that was the Nomu's head.
The bottle penetrated the clotted brain deeply, making a muffled, startling sound amidst the Nomu's noise.
"Zzzzzzzz... haha... RRAAGGGH!"
A final scream escaped the Nomu; it wasn't a mechanical noise, but a strange, short cry of pain.
The Nomu suddenly stopped moving. Its hand stiffened in the air above my head, and its maniacal grin froze.
Then, the liquid began.
A thick, viscous white substance, perhaps cerebrospinal fluid or a chemical, seeped from the deep wound in its brain and slowly began to run down the bottle and onto the Nomu's shoulder before dripping onto the broken floor, mixing with the dust and blood.
It had stopped.
I remained frozen beneath the still Nomu, the glass bottle deeply embedded in its exposed brain. Its colossal body leaned menacingly over me, but the only movement now was the white, gooey substance dripping onto the shattered concrete.
I felt trembling creep into my exhausted muscles. I pushed the Nomu aside with the force of my arm, dropping its heavy body onto the worn floor with a dull thud. I dragged myself out from under its dark shadow, using the remaining wall as an anchor to stand, breathing heavily.
My eyes were fixed on the deformed creature. This Nomu was different, more primitive, more gruesome than the ones I had seen in the anime's memory. Its appearance suggested it was the result of a random, incomplete experiment.
As I inspected its savagery, my gaze fell upon its neck.
There was a thick black leather loop, or perhaps a collar, embedded in the corroded gray flesh around the base of its neck. In the center of the collar, there was an inscription clearly engraved, despite a little rust and dust.
I struggled to strain my eyes in the faint light of the corridor, and with great difficulty, I read the inscription:
[FAILURE EXPERIMENT]
My brows furrowed. The phrase was simple and direct, but its meaning was far from benign.
Failure Experiment?
In that moment, a wave of logical deductions flowed through my mind, drawn from my acquired knowledge of the Nomu manufacturing process in this world.
[DAMN IT!] I thought in my mind, mocking my own previous stupidity.
[Why didn't I think of this before?] I asked myself, as the cold air hit my face.
Nomu are created by modifying humans and implanting multiple Quirks, a process that inevitably leads to a high rate of failure. These failures were disposed of, but where were they disposed of?
I realized the harsh truth now.
They simply dumped them in a ruined city, I deduced. This place isn't just an abandoned building. This entire city might be a dumping ground for failed human waste and experiments.
My eyes widened slightly as the shock set in. If this "Failed" Nomu had enough brutal strength to smash concrete, what about the rest?
This means this place is probably saturated with these repulsive beasts. Any corner, any shadow, any angle could conceal another one, or perhaps dozens. This place was not a sanctuary; it was a den.
New adrenaline surged through my veins, but this time, its source was not fear, but the awareness of the true danger surrounding me.
No time to rest. I stood up with difficulty, ignoring the pain in my shoulders and ribs. I must move...
..
.
.
[image]