“Roar—!”
A roar that seemed to tear eardrums suddenly exploded.
Immediately after, the chemical plant’s rust-spotted iron gate bulged outward as if struck by heavy artillery, then collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Amidst the billowing dust and smoke, a grotesquely twisted monster charged out.
It was a creature that had completely lost its human form.
Its muscle fibers writhed like tangled masses of red threadworms, trembling violently as it ran.
Its bloodshot eyeballs were locked dead on Cyrene, who stood not far away.
‘What’s happening?
What’s going on?!’
As the situation suddenly turned critical, Cyrene’s azure, diamond-shaped pupils widened slightly, her body freezing for a moment at the abrupt turn of events.
“What are you standing there for?
Run!”
A furious shout exploded beside her ear—the stall owner’s voice, strained and cracking with anxiety.
The man disguised as a vendor reacted with incredible speed.
The instant the monster charged out, he had already kicked aside the obstructive pancake cart.
Clatter—
Pots and pans scattered across the ground.
He paid them no mind, his hands gripping the custom-made pistol tightly, the dark muzzle swiftly locking onto the rapidly approaching mass of flesh with each breath.
“Stay back, you beast!
Have you forgotten the taste of electricity?!”
The stall owner’s eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead, as he tried to intimidate the beast with a furious roar.
However, it was useless.
The monster didn’t even turn its eyeballs.
In its world, it seemed only the pink-haired girl remained.
A guttural, craving sound rumbled from its throat as its claws gouged cracks into the asphalt beneath its feet.
“Damn it!”
Seeing this, the stall owner gritted his teeth and, without hesitation, slammed his index finger on the trigger.
Whoosh—
A dazzling arc of blue light shot out.
The custom-made taser round tore through the air and precisely embedded itself in the monster’s shoulder blade.
Zzzzzap!
Blue electricity instantly exploded across the monster’s body like a dense electric grid, violently tearing at its nerves.
The monster’s body convulsed violently, its running gait faltering for a moment as black smoke and the smell of burnt flesh rose from its skin.
But that was all.
Similar to the previous hit, the monster didn’t stop.
Instead, it seemed utterly enraged by the renewed pain. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
The madness in its blood-red pupils intensified as it pushed through the paralyzing current and accelerated toward Cyrene once more!
[Warning: High-risk Xeno detected approaching.
Please evacuate immediately.
This Xeno is drawn to you.]
[As for the others, you don’t need to worry for now.
This Xeno’s current target is you.]
Just as Cyrene was pondering why the monster was so fixated, the System’s cold, mechanical voice abruptly echoed in her mind.
Drawn to me?
Cyrene’s turning motion paused, and her brow furrowed slightly.
What do you mean, ‘drawn to me’?!
Though her mind was filled with confusion and doubt, reality left no time for further thought.
The monster, still smoking from the stall owner’s shot, was drooling and staring intently at her.
The greed in its eyes was like that of a starving ghost seeing a grand feast.
A chill shot up her spine to the top of her head, the scalp-tingling sensation instantly clearing her mind.
“Really…
I can’t handle this kind of ‘enthusiasm’!”
Cyrene bit her lip and, following the System’s advice, decisively turned and sprinted toward the other end of the street.
As expected, the monster completely ignored the frantically shooting stall owner, not even sparing a glance at the man who had injured it.
It immediately changed direction and chased after Cyrene like a mad dog.
System!
What the hell is going on?!
The wind howled in her ears as Cyrene maintained her running pace, screaming inwardly with exasperation.
[Answering Host: Because you have unlocked an ability, you are emitting a high-purity Memoria aura.]
[Memoria is essentially a form of energy.
For Low-Level Xenos, your high-quality Memoria is like a lighthouse in the darkness, enough to drive them into a frenzy, desperate to devour you to evolve.]
[Therefore, when you get close enough to a Xeno, it will sense your presence and chase you relentlessly.]
“Why didn’t you tell me such a crucial detail earlier?!”
Hearing the System’s explanation, Cyrene felt her head throb, and her footsteps nearly lost their rhythm.
If she had known she was a walking piece of “Tang’s Flesh,” she never would have come here to investigate at this time.
(Spy-As in Journey to the West with Tang Sanzang.
There was a rumor that if you took a bite of his flesh, you were granted immortality and great power, making him a huge target.)
[Due to insufficient data previously, this System was only able to confirm this mechanism after the Xeno was drawn to you and exhibited abnormal behavior, based on inference and analysis.]
Cyrene was instantly speechless.
This kind of hindsight was absolutely infuriating.
The roars behind her grew closer, and the nauseating stench of rot almost reached the back of her neck.
‘Forget it.
Blaming this artificial idiot now is useless!’
Cyrene took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Since this thing was after her, the stall owner was safe for now.
The only option left was to call for backup!
‘Thank goodness I agreed to have Phainon secretly follow this time.
Otherwise, I’d really be in trouble…’
She sighed inwardly.
However, if she called Phainon out now, it would not only expose his presence but also put her, a “helpless girl” saved by an “unknown expert,” under intense official scrutiny.
A pink-haired girl just happens to run near the chemical plant where the monster is contained, the monster just happens to go berserk, and it just happens to chase the pink-haired girl, who then just happens to be saved by a passing man in a white, gold-trimmed coat…
This script was so cliché that even a third-rate screenwriter wouldn’t dare write it!
How could there be so many coincidences?
But listening to the heavy footsteps growing closer behind her, Cyrene knew she had no choice.
“Hah…
Help—”
Just as Cyrene was about to scream for help and summon Phainon to save her.
Zzzzzap—!!!
An electric crackle, several times louder than the earlier pistol shot, suddenly erupted.
Immediately after.
“ROAR—!!!”
The monster’s roar instantly turned into a bloodcurdling scream, followed by the dull thuds of flesh tearing and bones snapping.
The relentless pressure that had been chasing her vanished in that instant.
Cyrene’s running feet screeched to a halt, her soles scraping a mark on the ground.
She froze for a moment, then instinctively turned to look back.
The Xeno, once raging uncontrollably, now lay limp on the ground, charred black.
Its body twitched intermittently as blue arcs of electricity danced across its corpse, crackling and popping.
But beside the monster’s corpse, Phainon’s familiar figure was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, there was an unfamiliar young girl.
The young girl was leaning against the wall, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air.
Clearly, that last attack had drained a huge amount of her strength.
Her left hand weakly braced against the rough wall for support, while her right hand, hanging limply at her side, was still wrapped in several lingering arcs of blue electricity.
The air was filled with an even stronger smell of burnt flesh.