["What happened to your arm?"]
["It looks like a dog dug its claws into you."]
["…Well, maybe a cat, kuaaaaaaaa."]
["HUMPH."]
It was the next morning, and the topic of conversation at breakfast immediately shifted to the huge wound on my arm.
["Did something happen last night?"]
["Well, that pair was flirting after we all went to sleep."]
[[WHAT?!]]
It seems the vixen Carolain was spying on us. I didn't sense her presence for a second. Is she a damn ninja?
["H-h-h… how is it th… I mean, we weren't doing anything like that!"]
["—Ohhh? Really? Then wasn't it you who hurt his arm because he touched your butt?"]
[[—WHAT?!]]
I felt Alicia's little fingers dig into my ribs. Time to escape.
As long as I don't count all the times she pretended to cry… This girl has already cried for real over me three times. And it'll be the fourth if I can't cheer her up before I leave.
["If you're all done, today we're going to spend the day getting you used to Mya and Ratchel."]
[[…]]
With my declaration, an indescribable terror appeared on everyone's faces. Today is going to be a great day, the rat kid concluded.
.....
"SSSSS"
[[HIIIII]]
"TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"
[[HIIIIII]]
"WOOF"
"SSSS"
"TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"
The moment I set foot on the terrace, chaos erupted. Mya and Ratchel took possession of me and separated me from the girls, then started intimidating them as if they were sworn enemies.
"WOOF"
"SSSS"
"TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"
Zeus tries to negotiate between the two parties, but his arguments were immediately rejected. Me? I'm enjoying the view. Why?
["Astrad,"] – Louise's voice contains a sinister warning.
["Alright, let's all calm down."]
Living is good, dying is bad.
["SSSS"]
["I'm leaving in three days… were you spying?"]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
["No, it's not because of the goody-two-shoes."]
["SSSSS"]
["No, you can't eat her."]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
["No, it's not because of her boobs. Wait, who taught you that vocabulary?"]
.....
["Well, let's start over. Girls, these are my pets: Ratchel and Mya."]
["SSSSS"]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
[[It's… A pleasure…]]
After several arguments, I managed to get Ratchel and Mya to accept the group of girls… Reluctantly. They're my pets, and I'm not good at denying them anything, so I'm glad we reached an agreement.
["Are you… Sure they won't attack us?"]
["I am."]
["Really?"]
["For realsies."]
["SSSSS"]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
[[…]]
The girls look at me with uncertainty as Ratchel and Mya approach them for some physical contact.
I saw their terrified faces as they petted their bodies. Some were trembling, others looked on the verge of fainting… What is this feeling? Has a door been opened?
["How are you so sure?"]
["We made a deal."]
[[A deal?]]
["SSSSS"]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
["Now?"]
["SSSSS"]
["TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"]
["Well… It's true that the timing doesn't matter."]
While the girls were wondering what was going on, I rolled up the sleeve of my left arm and extended it. Instantly.
"nom nom."
Mya and Ratchel bit down and began to drain my blood. They asked for a little in exchange for accepting the group.
I don't know what for, but I trust they wouldn't harm me. So, I don't care.
"Plop."
The sensation of being drained is strange, but manageable. However, the girls fainted on the spot, leaving fluids on my floor...
"Woof"
"SSSSS"
"TAKA, TAKA, TAKA"
No, even if you ask me…
Why is the piss sisterhood advancing without me?
Am I not enough? Am I not a good piss brother?
...….
["I just can't believe it."]
["Well… it's what they wanted…"]
["Aren't they supposed to be venomous?"]
["Now that you mention it…"]
["You aaaaaare—!"]
["It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."]
After the incident, I had to carry all the girls back to the living room.
Is this the reinforcement of the piss sisterhood?
Seeing their embarrassed faces when they wake up and discover they had an accident will be my compensation. Just like last time.
["It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."]
["You're thinking something stupid, aren't you?"]
Maybe she learned from the last time, because Louise—the first to wake up—looked at me without a shred of emotion, woke the rest up, and they all went straight to the bathroom.
Women, they take the fun out of life.
Well, regardless of the circumstances, Louise was now treating the bites on my arm. Since when does she know first aid?
["Brother, are you okay?"]
["Don't worry, poison can't be poisoned."]
["The rat kid considers your comparison an insult. The rat kid is not poison: He is the cure. The cure that prevents this society from prospering."]
["Isn't that a poison?"]
That depends on your point of view. Wouldn't a society without problems be boring?
["Well? Was it worth it?"]
["Starting tomorrow, we can start getting along. I'd like to put together some emergency plans and prepare things over the next few days."]
[[Even if you say that…]]
The pain, the despair… did I die and is this paradise my reward?
["I'm not asking you to be best friends. Just to be able to tolerate each other and, above all, to work together in emergencies."]
[[Yeeeah…]]
Good. Now I have an excuse to watch them struggle against terror for the next few days.
["It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."]
["You never learn."]
[[…]]
...….
The rest of the day was spent gathering information with the Rat Kid Network and playing with the girls (not sexually)… tsk.
Since there were no new developments or updates that would allow us to fulfill our sacred duty, the time we spent fucking with each other increased.
["Do you really have to go?"] - Alicia, sitting on my lap, asked with a subdued voice.
We are all in the living room, playing cards in a makeshift semicircle. And when I say all, I mean it: Ratchel and Mya are here too, although they weren't playing; they were just resting around me.
The sun was beginning to set, and we were basically killing time until the arrival of the Albinos with lag.
Putting that aside, regarding the little sister: maybe she hadn't said anything until now because she wanted to be alone with me, like Louise, but it's surprisingly difficult to get privacy in this house. I guess she gave up and decided to ask.
More like, why do you want to copy Louise so much?
["Crybaby, look at me for a moment."]
["…I… I'm not a crybaby…"]
Maybe because she knows my answer. Her small hand tightened on my forearm as she tries to complain about her nickname.
The rest of the girls look at us and the card game is interrupted… I was winning…
["Alicia, the rat kid asked you to look at him."]
Since she wasn't being obedient, this time, I call her by her name.
After a slight tremor, the little one looked at me. Her eyes were moist.
["That's why I'm telling you you're a crybaby."]
I wipe the eyes of the girl who manipulates the rat kid daily and pat her head.
["The world now… is not the world from two weeks ago. You understand that, right?"]
["…Yes…"]
["We rat kids don't like leaving the den. It's not something we do willingly on the first try, or even unwillingly on the fifth….
But this isn't that world anymore. In the future, maybe we'll find a way to deal with these monsters and restore things to how they were before, but it's also possible that we're the ones who will have to adapt."]
Alicia settles on my lap and buries her head in my chest.
I don't understand why she's gotten so attached to me in less than a month, but I stroked her head without stopping my monologue.
["I don't know what you and the other vixen went through."]
["Hey."]
["And the rat kid doesn't give a damn either."]
[[Hey!]]
["But the rat kid will not die. That's why the rat kid doesn't need any vixen to worry about the rat kid."]
[[HEEEYYYYY]]
["What the rat kid needs is someone to watch his pets while the rat kid goes out to hang. But I can't leave my precious belongings with a crybaby. Does the rat kid need to find someone else?"]
[[What the fuck kind of comfort is that?]]
["I… I'm not a crybaby…"]
I ignore the rest, but I hear Alicia loud and clear, who doesn't lift her head from my chest.
["So can I leave them in your care while I'm gone?"]
["…Yes."]
Alicia gripped my shirt, but her sobs ceased. Kids are amazing, the rat kid concluded.
...….
JOURNAL ENTRY NO: 042
SCIENTIFIC NAME: gigas uno oculo
REGIONAL ALIASES:
Greek Mythology: Cyclops
Norse Folklore: Forge Giant / Bergrisi
Anthropological Hypothesis: The Obsidian Mask Clan
NICKNAME (ASTRAD): The Mystic Welders' Guild
📊 THREAT ASSESSMENT
CLASSIFICATION: TERRITORIALIS / ANOMALY
Their behavior is theorized to be that of a territorial guardian, fiercely protecting their cavern-forges. Their nature appears to be a symbiotic anomaly. Reports suggest that it's not just a tribe of giants, but a culture of engineers or shamans who have merged their existence with a living geological organism through artifacts of an incomprehensible design.
DANGER LEVEL: RED (1 star)
The Red rating is speculated due to the reported synergy. The theory is that you're not facing a single giant, but a network of mobile artillery powered by a central reactor. Individually, a giant would be an Orange-level threat, but their supposed ability to project the Heart's energy at a distance would make them a siege-level threat. To neutralize them, it is believed that it's not enough to kill the giants; their power source would have to be destroyed.
AGGRESSIVENESS LEVEL: REACTIVE
All myths agree that they are extreme isolationists. Their aggressiveness seems to be triggered solely by intrusion. Their reaction to intruders is described as defensive, but on a catastrophic scale. Legends do not speak of warnings, but of a sudden annihilation for those who violate their domains.
🧬 COMBAT FILE (TL;DR)
TYPE: Humanoid
AFFINITY: Earth / Fire / Light
🎯 PRIMARY WEAKNESSES (Theoretical):
Destruction of the focusing mask, Massive cooling of the "Heart of the Mountain," Electromagnetic pulse attacks.
📌 KEY STRENGTHS (Reported):
Superhuman strength, Resistance to extreme heat, Channeled Geothermal Beam, Superior forged weaponry and armor.
📚 ORIGINS AND COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY
The Mythical Hypothesis (The Fantasy): The ancient Greeks described the Cyclopes as children of Uranus and Gaea, primordial one-eyed beings who forged Zeus's thunderbolts. This theory suggests that the myths were literal: the giants possessed a biological "eye" capable of projecting energy, a trait that was lost or diluted over time.
The Technological Hypothesis (Expert Engineers): Proposes that they were a lost branch of humanity that achieved an unprecedented mastery of geothermal engineering. The masks wouldn't be magical, but high-tech targeting visors.
Astrad's Analysis: A barbaric tribe with a magic crystal? Engineers who turned clean energy into a weapon? The question is purely academic. A beam of molten rock smells just as bad, regardless of whether its origin is magical or technological.
📝 DETAILED ANALYSIS
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY DESCRIPTION:
Accounts describe humanoids from 3 to 4 meters in height. Their most distinctive feature would be the ritual blacksmithing mask worn by the adults. It is believed to be forged from obsidian or basalt, covering the upper half of the face. In the center, a single, large red crystal that glows faintly is reported. The main theory is that another smaller crystal would be embedded in their sternum, acting as a power conduit.
BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY:
It is theorized that their culture revolves around a symbiosis with the "Heart of the Mountain," a living geothermal crystal. The masks would act as the interface. It connects to the mother crystal and uses its energy. In a hypothetical combat, they wouldn't need to aim with their hands; they would simply turn their heads, using the mask's crystal as a sight to fire a beam of energy from their chest.
☣️ PROTOCOLS
RECOMMENDED ENCOUNTER PROTOCOL:
DO:
Aim for the masks.
Use flanking tactics to avoid their frontal field of view.
Evasion is considered the only sensible strategy.
DON'T:
Enter their caverns.
Underestimate them as "dumb giants."
Attempt a frontal assault.
FIELD REPORT (Fragment from Homer's "Odyssey," interpreted as a field report):
"…and in his cave burned an immense fire, in whose center shone a light like that of a terrible sun. The giant did not see us with his eyes, but the light itself seemed to find us. Then, a great roar, and a ray of sun shot out from the earth, turning my men and the rock behind them to ash. It was not a monster; it was the mountain itself that judged us, and it found us unworthy."
🎤 ASTRAD'S NOTES (THE ONLY SHIT THAT MATTERS):
The Cyclopes, the smiths of the gods? Maybe, but they fell short. They didn't forge Zeus's thunderbolts; they had a fucking geothermal laser installed in their living room. It's like if a tribe in the Amazon, instead of bows and arrows, had domesticated an orbital satellite.
This redefines the concept of a "home security system." Forget guard dogs. These guys have a geological Death Star in their basement. And the worst part is that the myths suggest they're not evil. They're just giant, isolationist blacksmiths with a weapon of mass destruction as a pet. They don't want to conquer the world; they just don't want you on their lawn.
Maybe all of mythology, all of fantasy... boils down to this. Ancient people seeing technology or biology so advanced they could only describe it as 'magic.' It wasn't a magic eye. It was a symbiosis with a living crystal that shoots death rays. Honestly, the real version is much more impressive and fucking terrifying.
....
Rat Kid Network
Subject: The forest has heartburn.
RatKid4: [Hey, the forest is on fire.]
RatKid7: [And?]
RatKid4: [It all started with a fucking laser beam that came out of fucking nowhere from a giant figure hidden in the mountain. Video attached.]
[VIDEO attached: Drone_Mountain_Laser_WTF.mp4]
RatKid8: [LOL, 4, you sure you didn't eat the wrong mushrooms again? A mountain laser? Sounds like a B-movie.]
RatKid2: [I'm watching the video. Shit. The impact temperature must have been thousands of degrees. Instantaneous vaporization of vegetation. This isn't a normal fire; it's a fucking smelter.]
RatKid3: [Great, of all the things it could have been right about, the damn journal is right about the most annoying one.]
RatKid1: [It's my gift, my curse, GYAHAHAHA]
RatKid7: [HOLY MOTHER OF SCRAP METAL! IF GOD EXISTS, I ASK FOR NOTHING, ONLY THAT THE GEOMETRIC BEAM THEORY IS CORRECT. I NEED TO DISASSEMBLE THAT!]
RatKid2: Oh, no.
RatKid4: That son of a bitch is broken.
RatKid10: Here we go.
RatKid7: GUYS, I HAVE AN IDEA. ARE YOU WITH ME?
RatKid1: has disconnected.
RatKid3: has disconnected.
RatKid4: has disconnected.
RatKid8: has disconnected.
RatKid10: has disconnected.
RatKid7: Guys? GUYS, DON'T ABANDON MEEEEE.
RatKid2: There, there. Some days are like that.
RatKid7: 2? You'll come with me, right?
RatKid2: has disconnected.
RatKid7: Sniff…
.................
JOURNAL ENTRY NO: 088
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Avis homo
REGIONAL ALIASES:
Greek Mythology: Harpy
Andean Folklore: La Grita-Riscos (The Cliff-Screecher)
Anthropological Hypothesis: The People of the Cliffs
NICKNAME (ASTRAD): The Human Seagull
📊 THREAT ASSESSMENT
CLASSIFICATION: VENATOR / TERRITORIALIS
Its conduct is that of an aerial hunter that uses verticality as its main weapon. It is a Venator that stalks not from the ground, but from the sky. Its aggressiveness is linked to its domains, the great canyons and cliffs, making it a territorial guardian that considers the airspace its exclusive hunting ground.
DANGER LEVEL: YELLOW (4 stars)
A 4-star Yellow, and a first-rate tactical threat. It's not a brute that tears you apart; it's a stealthy assassin that neutralizes you before you can react. Its danger lies not in its strength, but in its ability to attack from a universal blind spot: above. If it catches you in the open, your gear is irrelevant; you're on its operating table.
AGGRESSIVENESS LEVEL: OPPORTUNISTIC
The definition of an ambush predator. It will avoid a direct confrontation at all costs. Its method is patience, stealth, and a single devastating attack when the prey is most exposed. It doesn't fight; it executes. Its aggression is that of a hawk, not a wolf.
🧬 COMBAT FILE (TL;DR)
TYPE: Humanoid
AFFINITY: Wind / Physical (Sonic)
🎯 PRIMARY WEAKNESSES (Theoretical):
Flashbang weapons (visual hypersensitivity), Enclosed or low-ceiling terrain (nullifies its vertical advantage), Nets or immobilization weapons.
📌 KEY STRENGTHS:
Extreme vertical mobility (gliders), Aerial stealth, Shockwave Screech (sonic disorientation), High-speed dive attack.
📚 ORIGINS AND COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY
The Mythical Hypothesis (The Fantasy): Classic texts, such as those by Homer or Virgil, describe them as a semi-divine race of winged women, plagues sent by the gods. According to this view, they are a non-human species, with biological wings and claws, whose cry is a literal curse. It is speculated that they hid on the highest peaks of the world, far from civilization.
The Rational Hypothesis (The Logic): Anthropological theory suggests that the myth is an exaggeration of a human tribe (Homo avius rupes) that adapted to life in vertical canyons. They wouldn't have wings, but would be master artisans of leather and bone gliders. Their physiology would be light and thin, with incredible grip strength. Their "claws" would be climbing tools made of obsidian, and their "shriek" a guttural language to communicate across the canyons.
Astrad's Analysis: A tribe of prehistoric inventors or real bird-women? Why not both? Perhaps the human tribe learned to "fly" and "scream" from the true Harpies, imitating the dominant creature of their ecosystem. Over time, the original monsters went extinct, and only their echo remained: the human tribe that adopted their methods. Either way, the result is the same: something falls from the sky and fucks up your day.
📝 DETAILED ANALYSIS
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY DESCRIPTION:
Historical records and the few credible sightings paint an ambiguous picture. Some speak of skeletally thin humanoids, clad in intricate leather and feather harnesses that unfold into large glider wings. Others insist on an organic fusion of woman and bird of prey. What all agree on is their silhouette in the sky: they move with impossible speed and agility, diving without a sound, except for the whistle of the wind. Their presence is often first announced by their infamous shriek.
BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY:
It is theorized that they live in nests or settlements carved into the walls of inaccessible cliffs. They are vertical ambush hunters. They perch on high ledges, observing the ground for hours. Once they identify an isolated prey (animal or human), they launch. Just before impact, they emit their Shockwave Screech, a focused sonic blast that, according to reports, causes severe vertigo and momentary paralysis. In that split second of defenselessness, they attack, either to steal supplies or to carry the prey off to their nests.
☣️ PROTOCOLS
RECOMMENDED ENCOUNTER PROTOCOL (Theoretical):
DO:
ALWAYS LOOK UP.
Travel through covered terrain (dense forests, ruins with roofs).
Use flashbang grenades or powerful spotlights as a countermeasure if detected.
DON'T:
Cross canyons, ravines, or open fields without cover.
Assume that silence means safety.
Ignore a high-pitched, unnatural shriek in the distance.
FIELD REPORT (Excerpt from the logbook of a Spanish conquistador, Colca Valley, Peru, 1534):
"…they called it the 'punishment from the sky.' We lost two men and a mule loaded with provisions. There were no arrows, no ambush on the path. Only... a scream. A shriek that split the air and brought us to our knees, the world spinning. When we could get to our feet, the men and the mule had vanished. Only their footprints in the dust remained and, high above us, a shadow that danced in the air currents."
🎤 ASTRAD'S NOTES (THE ONLY SHIT THAT MATTERS):
Fuck, if history teaches me anything, it's that human beings are jealous bastards. If we can't fly, and we see someone who can, we don't say 'wow, how ingenious.' We say 'BURN THE WINGED WITCH!'. I don't care if they were real women with wings or a tribe that invented the wingsuit millennia before Red Bull. The point is they dominated the Z-axis, and that, in any video game, is an overwhelming tactical advantage.
Their Shockwave Screech is basically an area-of-effect stun lock. You're left paralyzed, staring at the sky like an idiot, and by the time the dizziness wears off, they've already stolen your underwear. It's the perfect gank. No wonder the Greeks said they were a punishment from the gods. Being humiliated like that is, without a doubt, a religious experience.
So, are they a myth or a reality? Who knows? What I do know is that if you ever hear a weird shriek in a canyon, don't stop to take a picture. Because the next sound you'll hear will be your own ribs breaking against the ground.
......…
Rat Kid Network
Subject: New fetish unlocked - Death from above. (VIDEO)
RatKid7: [Well, folks. Today, while rummaging through the remains of a surveillance drone, I found this. The memory card survived. Enjoy the show.]
[VIDEO attached: Drone_GreenCanyon_FinalRecording.mp4]
RatKid8: [LOL, a drone? Let's see what the Spielberg of the apocalypse recorded.]
RatKid2: [Damn it 7, are you trying to make me deaf?]
RatKid6: [Fuck. That shriek. I'm getting a migraine just hearing it through the speakers.]
RatKid4: [Canyon, a group of 6 survivors crossing. They had good gear. It seems the sound induces vertigo. The frequency must be in the 20-30 kHz range.]
RatKid8: [Shit, at 0:34! There! From the cliff! They're like fucking giant bats!]
RatKid3: [Negative. Not bats. Humanoids. The fall is a controlled glide. Vertical ambush tactics. Flawless.]
RatKid7: [And BAM! They stole the backpack from the guy with the rifle! They didn't even touch him! They flew by and snatched it! Thieves! Thieves with wings!]
RatKid10: [I'm reading the file and watching the video at the same time... Fuck, that's exactly it. An area stun lock and an inventory theft. The perfect gank.]
RatKid4: [The image is blurry, I can't discern if they are humans with equipment or true mythological harpies... Where the fuck is 9 when you need him?]
RatKid1 (Astrad): [I don't care if they fly with real wings or with a hang glider made from the skin of their enemies. You're missing the point. Read my fucking note. What do they do?]
RatKid3: [They accumulate resources. They neutralize threats to their territory without risking direct combat. It's... brutally efficient.]
RatKid7: [NO! They keep the LOOT! They're fucking gear farmers! Just like the Satyrs!]
RatKid2: (sigh) Another monster that turns out to be a thief... This apocalypse has a strange fixation on private property.
RatKid8: [LOLOLOL! I see it! The ultimate crossover! The Satyrs are the ones who rob you on land and the Harpies are the ones who rob you by air! It's a mythological crime syndicate!]
RatKid1 (Astrad): [Exactly. And if they have a nest, and they've been doing this for centuries... that nest isn't a house. It's a fucking arsenal. The arsenal of the Z-axis.]
RatKid4: [Harpy nest assault protocol: viable. Requires sonic and light-based countermeasures. And someone willing to climb a fucking cliff.]
RatKid7: [Me! I can build a grappling hook with a lawnmower engine! Or a catapult! A catapult to launch Rat 3!]
RatKid3: [Rejected. But the premise of an asset recovery operation is... interesting.]