Yuutenji Nyamu felt that she must have had her brain scrambled by yesterday's downpour to be so possessed as to take on that damn mission!
What "Freely Tomorrow"! What "Wish Fulfillment"! All nonsense!
She just wanted to grab that electronic voice by the collar (if it had one) and shake it hard—look at this hellish scene! Listen to these heart-wrenching roars! Feel these terrifying gazes that almost broke her spine! Was this what it called "Freely Tomorrow"?
But now, before regret could even bubble up in her throat, she had already become the most conspicuous part of this frantic vortex—a dazzling, bright yellow streak speeding across a post-apocalyptic wasteland!
"Accelerator! Floor it!" Nyamu's face under her helmet was contorted with effort, her fingers tightly twisting the electric scooter's throttle.
The "Little Hornet" provided by Teiai beneath her let out a groan of protest, the faint smell of an overloaded motor discernible.
Before her eyes was the translucent mini-map projected onto her retina by the [Freely Tomorrow] panel, a flashing red arrow pointing to a gap in the barbed wire fence, violently torn open and just wide enough for one vehicle to pass.
Now!
She slammed down on the handlebars, and with a screech of tires, the Little Hornet, at a perilous, almost sideways angle, brushed past the sharp edge of the barbed wire, charging into Ikebukuro's main street like an arrow released from a bow!
The gates of hell slammed shut behind her, and true hell unfolded before her eyes.
The once bustling avenue was now a twisted metal junkyard and a shattered glass desert.
Burning trash cans emitted acrid black smoke, and overturned vehicles, like the carcasses of giant beasts, blocked the road. The air was filled with gunpowder, blood, and an indescribably foul, pungent odor.
A shriek came from the side; a "werewolf" on all fours, covered in coarse gray fur and with bared fangs, violently slammed into the rear of her scooter. Nyamu, relying on her abnormally keen reflexes after her cat transformation, sharply twisted the handlebars almost at the instant of the opponent's pounce. The Little Hornet narrowly scraped past, brushing against the terror the creature stirred up, its rearview mirror screeching as it was clawed!
"Roar—!"
More roars were stirred.
In the shadow of a street corner, a swollen-bodied "bear-man" stood up, pounding its chest, its crimson eyes locked onto the fast-moving yellow streak. From the broken window of a building, a "winged-man" with tattered bat-wings extending from its back and a twisted face let out a sharp shriek, diving down.
The mini-map was instantly covered with dense red enemy markers.
Nyamu's heart pounded, her cat ears under her helmet pressed tightly against her scalp from fear and wind pressure. She could only crouch lower, twisting the throttle to its limit, desperately weaving through the obstacle-strewn streets!
Drift! Emergency brake! Accelerate!
Every turn was accompanied by the screech of tires on the ground and the even more furious roars of the beasts behind her!
Bang! Crash—!
The wreckage of an overturned police car, as she sped past it, was violently flung away by a pangolin-like monster, covered in thick armor, that had caught up from behind. Metal fragments scattered like shrapnel!
A glance at the roadside filled her with dread.
Several police officers in riot gear, attempting to establish a defense line around an armored vehicle, were now locked in a desperate struggle. An "insect-man" with arms mutated into huge blades was frantically hacking at riot shields at an almost imperceptible speed, sending sparks flying!
Another monster, with an elongated neck covered in snake scales, was spewing dark green toxic mist, instantly corroding a teammate's protective mask, its screams chilling to the bone!
Fear drenched her body.
Even well-equipped military police were being torn apart like paper... how far could she go?
"Damn it! FT! I've reached Ikebukuro! What am I supposed to do next?!"
Nyamu shrieked inside her helmet, her voice tinged with a sob.
The mission objective only said "reach Ikebukuro," but what next?
[Mission: Seek teammates!]
A blue prompt box popped up mercilessly, covering the crimson expanse of the mini-map.
"Teammates?!" Nyamu almost fainted from anger.
"Where am I supposed to find teammates now?! Should I team up with beast-men?!" She felt completely played by this damn system.
Just then, a sharp whooshing sound came from above.
A monster with huge owl-like wings on its back, but retaining a female silhouette on its face, swooped down silently from a high-rise building beside her, like a predatory raptor, its sharp talons aiming straight for her helmet!
"Meow Ah—!"
Nyamu was scared out of her wits, catching a glimpse of its trajectory with her enhanced dynamic vision from her cat transformation. She sharply twisted the handlebars to the side, causing the scooter to tilt violently at high speed, almost losing balance, narrowly missing the deadly talons.
But this extreme evasive maneuver instantly closed the distance for the pack of beasts relentlessly pursuing her from behind!
That fast-moving streak of bright yellow, amidst the gray ruins and the raging beast shadows, was like a lighthouse in the dark, attracting more bloodthirsty gazes.
Several more dangerous, faster black shadows darted out from different alleyways, bringing with them a tearing wind, roaring as they joined the pursuit!
"It's over..." Despair gripped Nyamu.
She gritted her teeth, twisting the throttle to the maximum, the engine emitting a dying wail as she tried to make a final struggle.
Suddenly!
Directly ahead, a massive shadow, covered in thick scales and as large as a small bus, emerged without warning from behind the ruins of a collapsed shop.
Was that... a mutated giant crocodile?
Its huge, fanged mouth opened, a foul stench assailing her, its massive body completely blocking the road ahead!
A giant crocodile blocked the way ahead, and a pack of beasts sought her life from behind!
"Get out of my way—!" Nyamu's eyes were bloodshot, adrenaline surging, with no time to think, she instinctively swerved sharply.
The Little Hornet let out a groan of protest, its tires leaving charred marks on the ground, as it plunged into a narrower alley beside it, piled high with construction debris.
Screech—Bang!
The scooter bounced violently, its undercarriage scraping against protruding rubble and rebar on the ground, emitting a teeth-grinding noise.
Speed plummeted!
What was worse—
A pungent, strong smell of burning plastic and wires suddenly wafted up from beneath the seat!
"No way?!" Nyamu's heart sank to the bottom.
The Little Hornet beneath her gave a violent shudder, the engine's whine abruptly ceased, leaving only the "crackling" sound of internal short circuits after the motor overloaded.
Power... was completely gone.
"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!" Nyamu desperately slapped the unresponsive handlebars, trying to restart it, but there was no reaction.
The roars of the beasts behind her, like the death knell, rapidly approached the alley entrance. The heavy footsteps, the sound of claws scraping against walls, the greedy panting, were as clear as if they were right beside her ears!
Abandon the vehicle! Must abandon the vehicle immediately!
She suddenly jumped off the scooter, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she tried to run, but a sharp pain and a strong sense of resistance came from her left foot!
"Ah!" She looked down, almost fainting—her left shoe, at some point, had been firmly caught by that damned metal cover on the electric scooter's footpeg.
She pulled hard, but the shoe wouldn't budge. The metal buckle of the cover had deformed during the violent bumping just now, biting onto her shoelace like a beast trap.
"Let go! Let go!" Nyamu shrieked in terror, futilely trying to pry open the cold metal with her hands.
At the alley entrance behind her, several huge and ferocious shadows had already loomed, a foul, hot breath sprayed on the back of her neck, and crimson or murky beast eyes glowed in the dim alley.
She could clearly see one of the werewolves open its maw, its sharp fangs glinting coldly, bringing with it a terror as it pounced towards her!
Nyamu desperately closed her eyes, awaiting the onset of excruciating pain.
Swoosh—!!!
A blindingly bright blue electric light, almost tearing through her vision, flashed past Nyamu's side without warning.
The light was fierce, violent, carrying a sense of destructive energy, and it struck with incredible precision the werewolf pouncing on Nyamu, as well as the several monsters crowded at the alley entrance behind it!
"Howl—!!!"
A piercing shriek erupted instantly.
Following the electric light was a deafening, continuous burst of gunfire!
Bang bang bang bang bang—!!!
That was not the sound of any firearm Nyamu recognized.
It was duller, more explosive, like countless metal fragments violently colliding under high pressure, tearing through the air. Each roar was accompanied by a powerful shockwave that shook the walls on both sides of the alley, sending dust falling.
Bright light! Noise! And a storm of projectiles, designed solely for taking life, carrying terrifying kinetic energy!
The several monsters at the very front were as if struck head-on by an invisible giant hammer.
The werewolf's head instantly exploded in a mist of blood, a basin-sized hole burst open in the bear-man's chest, and the diving winged-man was torn to shreds like a kite with a broken string.
Foul blood, shattered flesh and bone, scales, and feathers splattered like a downpour in the narrow alley.
With just one round of gunfire, the surging tide of beasts, as if hitting an invisible "wall of sighs" made of pure violence, was instantly divided, pulverized, and forcibly suppressed!
A tremendous fear even overcame their bestial instincts; the surviving monsters let out terrified whimpers, actually stunned by this sudden, terrifying firepower, shrinking back and daring not to advance another step.
Nyamu's mind went blank from the explosive sound and the scene of flying flesh and blood so close, her ears ringing.
A strong survival instinct made her, at the moment the explosion's shockwave hit, desperately push off, a tearing pain shot through her left foot, but the shoe finally broke free from the deformed cover!
She fell forward clumsily, hands covering her head, lying prone on the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably from fear and lingering dread.
Warm, strongly foul-smelling liquid splattered onto her helmet and back.
Several seconds passed before the gunfire ceased. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and the stench of burning flesh.
Dead silence.
Only Nyamu's own heavy, bellows-like breathing, and the suppressed growls of the monsters at the alley entrance.
Trembling, she slowly raised her head, looking towards the source of that deadly firepower.
Deep in the alley, silhouetted against the dim daylight filtering in from the alley entrance, stood a tall figure.
The person was dressed in pure black: black tactical trousers, a black high-necked combat uniform, covered by an equally pitch-black, unmarked, loose-fitting jacket. Underneath golden long hair, shadows completely obscured the upper half of his face.
And in his hand—
He held a "gun" of extremely bizarre design, emanating an ominous aura.
The main body of the thing looked like a submachine gun that had been forged in a high-temperature furnace, twisted and deformed, then forcibly pieced back together.
The barrel was short, thick, and irregular, as if crudely welded from several steel pipes of different calibers. The gun body was covered with various metal plates, gears, and unexplained pipelines. The magazine position was a bulging, strange energy canister that constantly flickered with blue electric arcs.
The entire weapon was full of a rough, chaotic, and violent aesthetic, like something out of a wasteland punk setting. At this moment, acrid white smoke wafted from its twisted muzzle.
He stood there silently, like an unshakeable shadow. The shadows beneath his golden hair were bottomless, obscuring his expression, leaving only a cold, heavy sense of oppression, as if it could freeze the soul, silently spreading.
Under this invisible pressure, the monsters at the alley entrance actually began to slowly retreat, emitting fearful whimpers.
[Mission: Discover teammate, invite to join!]
The blue prompt box popped up again in Nyamu's violently trembling field of vision. And this time, the edges of the text seemed to have a hint of... urgent flickering?
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