The street fell into a tense silence.
Ash drifted slowly through the air, carried by a weak wind that slipped between the broken buildings. Somewhere far away, sirens wailed again before fading into the distance.
But no one in the group moved.
Ryu's eyes were still locked on me.
Heavy.
Unblinking.
The massive hammer resting on his shoulder looked like it could crush concrete.
Ren shifted uneasily beside me.
"…Why does that guy look like he already decided to kill you?" he whispered under his breath.
Akira heard him and chuckled softly.
"Because he probably has."
Mira sighed, rubbing her forehead as if she was already tired of the situation.
"Can we not start killing each other yet?"
Ryu didn't respond.
He slowly stepped forward.
Each step sounded heavy against the cracked asphalt.
The system message flashed in my vision again.
SUBJECT INTERACTION ACTIVE
My heart pounded faster.
Rei stepped slightly closer to me.
Not in front of me.
Not behind.
Beside me.
A silent sign she wasn't backing down.
Akira noticed the movement and smiled faintly.
"Relax, big guy," he said to Ryu. "We just got here."
Ryu finally shifted his gaze away from me.
He looked at Akira instead.
"You talk too much."
Akira grinned.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot."
Mira pushed herself away from the store entrance.
Her knife glinted faintly in the smoky sunlight.
"We already cleared most of the supplies here," she said calmly. "If you want what's left, go ahead."
Ren looked inside the shattered convenience store.
"What kind of supplies?"
Mira shrugged.
"Food. Water. Some basic medical stuff."
Ren blinked.
"…And you're just letting us take it?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"I didn't say that."
Akira laughed.
"There it is."
The tension returned immediately.
Ryu planted the head of his hammer on the ground with a heavy thud.
The sound echoed down the empty street.
"You want supplies," he said slowly.
"Earn them."
Ren groaned quietly.
"Of course it's like this."
Rei glanced at me.
"What do you think?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because something else had caught my attention.
Another message had appeared in my vision.
ZONE THREAT LEVEL INCREASING
My stomach tightened.
Then another line appeared.
MONSTER ACTIVITY DETECTED
Before I could say anything—
A scream echoed from the far end of the street.
Everyone turned instantly.
Something large moved between the abandoned cars.
Fast.
Too fast.
Akira's smile disappeared.
"Oh."
Another scream followed.
Then something crashed through the front of a nearby building.
Concrete exploded outward.
Dust and debris filled the air.
A massive shape stepped out of the cloud.
Ren's jaw dropped.
"Okay."
He slowly pointed.
"That one is definitely bigger."
The creature was easily twice the size of the ones we fought earlier.
Its body looked like a twisted combination of bone and muscle, stretched tight beneath blackened skin.
Long claws dragged across the pavement as it walked forward.
Its head jerked side to side as if sniffing the air.
The system message flashed again.
THREAT CLASSIFICATION: ALPHA
Ryu lifted his hammer.
Akira twirled his spear once.
Mira flipped her knife in her hand.
The creature's head snapped toward us.
It roared.
The sound vibrated through the street.
Ren whispered,
"…That's not good."
The creature lunged forward.
Ryu moved first.
He stepped forward and swung the hammer in a wide arc.
The impact sounded like a car crash.
The creature was knocked sideways and smashed into a parked vehicle.
Metal crumpled under its weight.
Ren blinked.
"…Okay."
He looked at Ryu.
"I officially like this guy now."
But the creature stood back up almost immediately.
It roared again and slashed forward with both claws.
Ryu blocked with the hammer handle.
The force pushed him back several feet.
Akira dashed forward next.
His spear flashed through the air and struck the creature's shoulder.
Black fluid sprayed across the pavement.
The creature howled.
But it didn't fall.
"Wow," Akira said casually. "That's tougher than the small ones."
Mira moved silently around the side.
She waited.
Watched.
Then struck.
Her knife stabbed directly into the creature's leg joint.
The monster collapsed to one knee.
Rei grabbed a metal pipe from the ground and threw it to me.
"Satoshi!"
I caught it instinctively.
The system message flashed again.
COMBAT PROTOCOL ACTIVE
INSTINCTIVE COMBAT — LEVEL 1
The world sharpened again.
Movements slowed.
Angles became clear.
Weak points.
Timing.
The creature roared and swung its claws toward Akira.
I moved.
Fast.
The pipe slammed into the side of its skull.
The creature staggered.
Ryu didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward and brought the hammer down with terrifying force.
CRACK
The monster's head smashed into the pavement.
The street fell silent again.
The creature twitched once.
Then stopped moving.
A new system message appeared.
ALPHA MONSTER DEFEATED
EXPERIENCE DISTRIBUTED
Akira stretched his shoulders.
"Nice teamwork."
Ren stared at the corpse.
"…We just killed a boss monster."
Rei glanced around the street.
Her eyes were sharp.
"Too loud."
She was right.
The fight had echoed through the surrounding blocks.
Mira wiped her knife clean on the creature's hide.
"More will come."
Ryu lifted his hammer again.
The system message appeared once more.
But this time—
It was different.
GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Everyone froze.
Even Akira looked surprised.
The message expanded across my vision.
FIRST SUBJECT ELIMINATION CONFIRMED
The air suddenly felt colder.
Ren blinked.
"Wait."
He looked at me.
"What does that mean?"
I swallowed.
Somewhere in the city…
A subject had just died.
Akira looked toward the distant skyline of Tokyo.
His expression had finally lost its playful edge.
"Well," he said quietly.
"The real game just started."
Another line appeared beneath the announcement.
REMAINING SUBJECTS IN ZONE: 8
The number had dropped.
Someone was already hunting.
And judging by the uneasy look in Ryu's eyes…
He might know who.