Skar, a man in his forties with a weary face and dark hair, sat in his dilapidated office with rusted iron walls covered in graffiti and swarming with flies buzzing everywhere. Behind him, a large circular window offered a bleak view of the outside, a grim and desolate environment. But at least he was surrounded by three radiant women who took good care of him. He was a major trafficker, entangled in all sorts of shady dealings. While he was enjoying himself, a person with a scarred face, dressed in tattered and filthy clothes, entered his office, pushing a cage mounted on small wheels and covered with a dusty black cloth. Then they said, "Here you go, Skar, your order's here. Hope I'm not interrupting too much."
"Pablo! Haha! What do you think? You're a rare sight, but when you show up, it's always at the worst time," Skar replied. He added, "Still, I've been waiting a whole year for this. It better be good stuff."
"I don't get it, Skar, why do you need a semi-kaiyoon? I really struggled to find one."
"I want to make it my slave."
"Well, damn, you and your crazy ideas… Anyway, here's what you wanted," said Pablo, pulling off the black cloth, filling the office with dust.
"Wait, what the hell is that?" Skar said, standing up from his chair, pushing the women off him, and walking toward the cage to get a better look. It was a creature about 1.45 meters tall, with pitch-black skin from head to toe. On its head were two horns, one larger than the other, a round, childlike face with large eyes and reddish pupils, and an electronic collar around its neck.
"That's no semi-kaiyoon!" Skar said, glaring at Pablo, who seemed a bit shaken. Then, regaining his composure, he added, "Don't you know how to spot a semi-kaiyoon? A kaiyoon is massive, and a semi is small and almost humanoid. I'm not telling you anything new."
"Of course you're not telling me anything new," Skar shot back. "But this thing isn't a semi. A semi looks almost exactly like a human, just with a few scales or a horn on their body, and those are rare. And you bring me this pitch-black thing with two horns and all? I don't want it!"
"It's gotta be rare, then," Pablo said, but Skar immediately shut him down. "Rare, my ass! This thing's probably diseased."
"You're gonna buy it! I spent a year looking for this, and it cost me six million gold pieces," Pablo insisted.
With a cold stare, Skar replied, "Or what?" Suddenly, heavily armed men burst into the office, pointing their specialized weapons at Pablo, causing the women to flee.
"Okay, okay, calm down, Skar, maybe we can work something out!" Pablo said, raising his hands, sweating and panicked.
"No," Skar said. "I can't kill you because I need you, but I'm the one who sets the rules!" Then he turned to the creature, staring at it, and said, "You there, when's the last time you ate?" No response, just an emotionless gaze. Then Skar added, "I need to check if you're a semi or not, so say a word, and I'll give you this guy's arm!"
Suddenly, the creature stirred, trying to stand but too weak to do so easily. It managed to say, "I'm… I'm hungry!"
At that, Pablo began to panic, terrified, and said, "Skar, you're not… you're not gonna do this," stepping back two paces before stopping as one of the men pressed a gun to the back of his head.
"Oh, yes I am," Skar replied. Then Pablo was restrained by Skar's men. Skar headed to a room connected to his office, filled with all sorts of weapons, some downright bizarre. He went to where his swords were stored, then came out with a massive black axe he could barely carry. Skar's men placed Pablo on the moldy table that served as Skar's desk.
"NO, not this!" Pablo screamed. Skar's men stuffed a large cloth in his mouth to silence him.
"Pablo, Pablo, Pablo," Skar said, walking slowly toward him, adding, "We'll keep our business going. I'm gonna sell this creature to the Guardians. They're always in need of more materials, especially semi-kaiyoons for fighting. So, I'll sell it to them for… 10 million. What percentage do you want?"
"Hm… HMMM," Pablo, in a panic, couldn't say anything because of the cloth in his mouth.
"Well, you're not saying anything! Guess that means more for me," Skar said before violently swinging at Pablo's arm. He missed the first strike, only managing to sever the arm on the second try. Meanwhile, the creature watched, unfazed, fixated on Pablo's arm, which it desperately wanted.
"Oops," Skar said with a grin. "I missed. Come on, Pablo, don't make that face. At least now you'll have a new nickname: Pablo the one-armed seeker." Pablo writhed in agony and passed out.
"Get him patched up, he can't die, I still need him," Skar ordered. His men carried Pablo out of the office.
"Damn, my whole office is covered in blood," Skar added, picking up Pablo's arm and tossing it into the creature's cage. The creature, with a sudden burst of energy, stood up and began tearing into the arm.
"Well, looks like I did a good deed today," Skar said, smirking at the creature.
Decades ago, the world was ravaged by massive natural disasters that destroyed nearly all infrastructure, causing countless deaths. As if that weren't enough, several pandemics began to afflict populations across different nations. One disease, called B01, killed a billion people. After months of research, scientists developed a drug they injected into patients with B01. But after the injection, these people transformed into enormous monsters called kaiyoons, their appearances varying from one to another. Consumed by uncontrollable rage, they attacked anything that moved: animals, humans, everything. Humanity tried to fight this scourge but failed, as, like B01, this new disease, dubbed B2.0, spread through prolonged contact with the infected or through bites, like zombies, but far larger, with monstrous forms and immense strength. As the world teetered on the brink of collapse, some infected individuals recovered due to genetic compatibility with B2.0, gaining incredible strength comparable to that of the kaiyoons. Now called semi-kaiyoons, they had a near-human appearance but possessed superhuman strength and extraordinary resilience, able to survive months without food or water. Some bore kaiyoon traits, like horns or scales, and the rarest among them had additional abilities, though these were exceedingly uncommon. Thanks to their help, humanity retreated behind a massive wall built for protection. But in this new world, semi-kaiyoons were feared. Once hailed as heroes or Guardians, the surviving scientists and engineers decided to find a way to neutralize them. After numerous tests, they discovered that granite weakened both kaiyoons and semi-kaiyoons. They built massive granite robots, as well as weapons, chains, and collars made of the material. Out of fear, they enslaved the semi-kaiyoons, using these granite weapons to control them.
"So, my little monster, sleep well? Hope you liked the arm I gave you," Skar said, laughing, standing close to the creature's cage. He added, "I just contacted the Guardians, and they agreed to buy you for 10 million gold pieces. Can you believe it? Maybe I should've asked for more, but 10 million's a lot. Thanks to you, I'm gonna make a fortune. Let me tell you what's in store for you! Over there, they'll test you. Sure, you might be rare and valuable, but if you're not as strong as a mega, well, they'll kill you!" He stepped back, grinning, lit a cigar, and started smoking. The smoke made the creature cough. Then he grabbed a syringe filled with a black liquid and approached the cage.
"You don't seem like you want to live, but let me tell you something that might interest you," Skar said, sitting near the cage. "Ugh, you're not much of a talker," he sighed. "But if you do what they tell you and earn their trust, they'll give you a personal mission. And if you succeed, you'll be free again."
At that moment, for the first time in years, the creature's empty gaze changed. It stared straight into Skar's eyes and said, "You… you're lying," with a look that betrayed a complete loss of faith.
"Ha, see? You can talk when you want to!" Skar replied. He stabbed the syringe into the creature's neck and added, "Maybe I am lying." Then he injected the serum and said, "Time to sleep now. You're gonna need it."