The training room buzzed with early morning energy. Rows of machines hummed softly, hologram targets glowed blue, and punching dummies reset themselves after each hit. Fresh recruits from the platoon exercised everywhere.
Agnar stood near the stretching platform, rolling his shoulders slowly.
Ash slammed a final punch into a moving target, the hologram shattering before reforming. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, breathing hard.
But both of them weren't focused.
Their minds were stuck on yesterday.
"Still thinking about that thief?"
Agnar nodded, eyes narrowed. "Whoever he was… he had Exterminator-grade weaponry. That's no random robber."
Ash leaned closer. "You think he stole it from a base?"
"That's a possibility," Agnar muttered. "But each base is heavily guarded. I think someone handed it to him."
That thought made Ash freeze.
"…That makes it way worse."
Agnar didn't respond. He was staring at his open palms, remembering the way the thief had fired that weapon.
The door slid open with a soft hiss.
"Unit Five! Front and center!"
A tall bald man in a grey combat jacket stepped inside. Broad shoulders, strict face, and eyes that scanned people like scanners. He carried himself like someone who lived on discipline.
Ash whispered, "That's our commander. Commander Evrick."
Agnar straightened up.
Evrick's voice echoed through the training room.
"All new memebers of Extermination Unit Five, line up."
Agnar and Ash hurried to join the forming line. They were joined by other rookies around ten in total.
Some faces stood out instantly.
A girl with turquoise hair tied into a messy knot adjusted her glasses, her eyes sharp and bright. She wore fingerless gloves and kept tapping her fingers like she was counting something.
A bulky boy with a scar across his eyebrow, calmly adjusting his gauntlet as if he'd done this for years.
A tall, quiet boy with blond hair covering one eye, leaning against the wall like he owned it.
Ash licked his thumb, "They all look strong."
Agnar smiled faintly. "Good."
Commander Evrick paced in front of them.
"You are no longer trainees," he said." From today forward, you represent the Exterminators. Your failures will be recorded. Your progress will be monitored. And Your mistakes..."
He stopped directly in front of them.
"...will cost lives."
Some recruits gulped.
"Today," Evrick continued, "you'll receive a custom weapon from the tech labs. All rookies must go through this step before official patrols."
Ash lit up instantly. "Custom weapon? FINALLY."
Evrick didn't look at him. "Move."
He gestured toward the elevator at the back of the room.
"And Karven," he added flatly, "try not to break anything."
Ash froze. "H-how did he?"
Agnar patted him on the back. "Everybody knows."
They followed Evrick into the elevator. As the doors shut, they began descending quickly, deeper into the facility.
The girl with the turquoise hair suddenly looked at Agnar.
"You're the one who predicted every attack, right?" she said casually.
Agnar stiffened. "It… wasn't exactly like that."
"I'm Lyra," she said, extending her hand. "Energy analysis unit. I want to study your brain."
Agnar pointed at Ash. "If anyone needs brain studying! It's him, his brain barely works already!"
"Hey!" Ash yelled.
Lyra laughed.
The bulky boy grunted. "Name's Torren. Don't get in my way."
Agnar smirked. "Don't get in mine."
The blond-haired boy finally spoke without raising his head.
"Call me Zeek."
The elevator opened into a brightly lit hallway lined with glowing tubes, robotic arms, and engineers wearing white coats.
One of the scientists waved them closer.
"Welcome, Unit Five! Time to build your weapons."
Ash vibrated with excitement. "YES!"
The scientists brought them to a long circular platform.
"Each of you will choose a base model," the scientist explained, "and then we'll tune it to your fighting style."
Ash ran straight to the display case.
"I want something cool. Something good in close and long range combat."
The scientist blinked.
"…You're a ranged fighter, correct?"
Ash nodded.
"Then let's give you a convertable dual-mode rail blaster. Switches between a spear and a gun."
Ash squealed. "ALRIGHT!"
Agnar stepped forward.
"I can't decide."
"Hmm," the scientist said, "What's your fighting style? We can decide what weapon suits you best. Your weapon will be an extension of you."
Agnar paused, "Close quarter combat.
He chose a katana simple, clean, reliable.
But this time the scientist added:
Something called a "sync booster," designed to respond to Agnar's sudden bursts of energy.
Agnar held the katana.
It felt… right.
Lyra chose a lance with energy pulses running through it.
Torren picked brutish metal gauntlets.
Zeek selected a long-barreled sniper rifle that hummed softly, almost alive.
They were ready.
But none of them knew how quickly those weapons would be needed.
Then the alarms blared.
"Emergency alert! B-Class monster detected in District 2!"
Agnar and Ash froze.
"That's Faye's district," Ash muttered.
Meanwhile in District 2.
Smoke filled the streets as a massive creature rampaged.
"All rookies get on board the combat helicopter." An Exterminator ordered.
"Just observe how it's done. This is not a rookie assignment!"
A team of elite Exterminators jumped from the helicopter and surrounded it.
Faye whispered, "So this is real monster extermination."
"Stay sharp," Bjorn said.
Two raiders fired electric nets, binding the creature. Another fired a high-pressure beam that burned through its hide.
Within minutes, the monster collapsed.
The lead Exterminator turned to the observing rookies.
"And that's how you exter..."
The corpse glowed bright red.
Every raider froze.
"What?"
The body twisted violently.
Bones cracked.
Its muscles swelled.
Its eyes snapped open now glowing crimson.
The monster ROARED.
It launched forward with new speed and smashed a few raiders into a wall.
Faye gasped.
"It revived?!"
Bjorn's face hardened.
"No… this is different."
The lead raider shouted, "Rookies, fall back! Now!"
But the monster jumped right for Faye.
Bjorn pushed her away and fired a precise shot into its knee.
Faye landed, eyes locked onto the monster.
She stood up.
"I can fight."
Bjorn nodded.
The elite Exterminators regrouped.
Bjorn fired at weak points.
Faye leapt into the sky and blasted it with a strong pink beam that tore through its shoulder.
The monster shrieked.
Its mouth opened and it shot an intense beam right at Faye. She only just got out the way.
"That was hot," she grunted.
Ash and Agnar were watching the live feed back at base.
Agnar gripped his hand. "Come on… come on…"
Bjorn slammed a final bullet into the monster's eye.
Faye unleashed her full-force beam at the same moment.
A massive explosion shook the street.
When the smoke cleared, the monster lay dead.
Truly dead.
But the fear in everyone's eyes remained.
What had just happened… was impossible.
Word spread fast.
Within an hour, the Chairman summoned all platoon commanders.
A round table filled the top-floor meeting room. Holograms floated above it, showing monster corpses glowing red before reviving.
Commander Evrick stood among them.
The Chairman's voice was deep.
"This is the fifth case this month."
A murmur spread across the room.
Vice Commander Raiken appeared beside the table.
"We found traces of a foreign chemical in the monsters' bodies."
He tapped a button.
A hologram displayed a vial of dark red liquid.
"This drug forcibly enhances a monster's cells. It kills them, then reanimates them stronger than before."
A commander frowned.
"Who would develop something like this?"
The chairman looked at the screen.
"That is what we must find out."
The Chairman spoke again, tone heavy.
"If this spreads, humanity will face threats beyond anything we prepared for."
A silent fear settled over the room.
The calm before the storm.
Later that evening, Agnar was helping carry equipment through the warehouse district. His squadmates had left early, but he still had errands assigned by higher-ranked Exterminators.
He didn't mind.
Walking helped him think.
As he turned a corner, he heard voices.
Low. Secretive.
He leaned behind the dumbster.
Two masked men stood under a broken streetlight.
They exchanged small vials of dark red liquid.
Agnar's eye narrowed, "What's that."
One masked man whispered,
"Distribution is almost complete. When the next wave hits, the city won't stand a chance."
Agnar's blood ran cold.
A footstep echoed behind him.
A masked man stood there, staring at him.
Agnar's eyes widened.
The man hissed,
"He saw everything."
Before Agnar could react, the masked man lunged with a knife.
Agnar dodged, rolling sideways.
Agnar kicked the knife out his hand, and ran down the alley.
One of the men chased him, moving with unnatural speed.
Agnar turned a corner.
The man caught up to him, he grabbed Agnar's collar and slammed him into the wall.
The masked man tilted his head.
"You saw, now I have to kill you."
Agnar gritted his teeth.
"Shit."
He charged at Agnar with a knife. He blocked the attacker's wrist with his forearm, twisting sideways. He shoved the attacker off and kicked at his ribs, forcing distance.
The masked man slid back, he rushed forward again.
This time they collided hard.
Fists flew.
Agnar blocked one punch, countered with a jab to the jaw, then a hook to the ribs. The masked man staggered but recovered instantly, he shoved his knee into Agbar's stomach followed by a punch to the face.
Blood dripped from his nose. He wiped the blood quickly and steadied his breathing.
Agnar charged forward, shoulder-checking the masked man into the wall. But the masked man retaliated instantly, headbutting Agnar.
He gasped and stumbled but his instincts kicked in. He countered with an elbow to the attacker's chin.
A punch to the throat.
The masked man collapsed to one knee.
For a moment, Agnar thought he could finish the fight.
Then
A shadow dropped from the rooftops.
Another masked man landed behind Agnar.
Agnar froze.
A second attacker.
He looked left.
No escape.
He looked right.
Dead end.
His heart raced fast. He stepped back slowly.
The new masked man stood still.
"This ends now."
Agnar turned and sprinted.
Both masked men took off after him immediately, faster than regular humans.
Agnar ran through the alley. The first masked man caught up.
Agnar slowed just enough to pivot, throwing a straight punch.
The masked man blocked and countered.
Their fists clashed again.
Agnar ducked a sweeping kick, swept the attacker's ankle, and slammed him into the ground.
The second man closed in.
Agnar backed up
Then something massive dropped from the sky.
BOOM.
They stumbled as the pavement cracked apart.
A huge monster slammed down, claws gouging the road.
Grey skin. Spiked spine. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto Agnar.
The masked man closest to Agnar didn't hesitate, he instantly turned and ran the opposite direction.
The monster roared, cutting him off. In the blink of an eye the monster opened its mouth and ate the fleeing masked man.
The other masked man stumbled back.
"That's not supposed to happen."
Agnar froze in shock.
The masked man activated a smoke screen, the air cleared and he was gone.
The monster roared again.
Agnar swallowed hard.
"No suit… great."
He ran down the alley in an attempt to escape the monster.
The monster fired a crimson beam straight at him.
Agnar turned his head, the beam illumimated his face with deadly red light.
Then annihilated part of the street.
BOOM!
The monster alarms on the streets blared. Screams erupted as civilians sprinted in every direction. Buildings crumbled, cars melted, and several bystanders were killed in the explosion.
Aganar dove behind a fallen water tank but a chunk of concrete collapsed onto him.
He held his head an grunted in pain. Blood dripped down the side of his face.
He pushed himself up and pulled out his MEX pistol.
A shaky breath. Then he fired.
Rapid shots.
Yellow sparks ricocheted off the monster's hide.
The attack did nothing.
The beast roared and fires another beam.
Agnar threw himself to the side, rolling across the pavement as the attack scorched past him.
He fired again.
His hand shook. The recoil numbed his wrist.
Agnar ducked behind broken concrete as the monster crushed the ground where he stood moments earlier.
He peeked around the corner.
The monster grabbed a car
And flung it.
Agnar sprinted.
The car exploded behind him, he rolled away just in time.
He turned and fired at the monster's legs
More sparks.
Minor burns.
Still useless.
Agnar gritted his teeth.
The monster roared and charged.
The monster fired another attack.
Agnar dodged narrowly, rolling across the pavement.
He fired again.
His hand shook from the recoil.
He ducked behind broken concrete as the monster crushed the ground.
He peeked out
The monster flung a car at him.
Agnar sprinted as the car exploded behind him.
He panted heavily. He aimed and fired at its legs.
Small sparks.
Minor burns.
But still not enough.
The monster roared and charged again.
He braced himself
A spotlight cut through the darkness.
Dust swirled.
A helicopter descended overhead.
Ash leaned out the side, "Agnar! MOVE!"
Agnar dove aside as the monster punched the street where he stood seconds ago.
A squad of raiders jumped from the helicopter, weapons drawn.
Energy blasts lit the street, waves of heat rippling with every shot.
And at the very edge of a building several meters away… sitting calmly at the roof top was a silhouette.
A figure resting casually, legs crossed.
Holding a strange, sleek weapon glowing with faint purple energy.
The figure slowly stood up.
With a deep growling voice said, "LET THE GAMES BEGIN."