CHAPTER 3 : Mysterious man?

Toma suddenly jolted awake, gasping for air, his body drenched in sweat. His chest rose and fell rapidly, eyes darting wildly like someone just dragged out of a nightmare. His hair stuck messily to his forehead, and the pale hospital light gleamed against the sweat running down his face.

Ren, Kurogane, and Mira froze in shock.

“Toma!! Are you okay?!” Ren shouted, slapping his shoulder repeatedly.

“Mira! Get the doctor! Now!” Kurogane yelled, his voice cracking with panic.

Without hesitation, Mira sprinted out of the room, her shoes tapping loudly against the tile floor. The echo of her steps filled the silent corridor before fading beyond the automatic doors.

Ren leaned closer, eyes filled with worry. “Toma, can you hear me?!”

Toma slowly turned his head. His lips trembled, and a faint, broken whisper came out.
“R–Ren…”
His voice was dry, fragile.
“We... we have to run.”

Ren blinked. “R–run? What do you mean?”

Before Toma could answer, the door burst open. A doctor rushed in with two nurses, their footsteps sharp and quick.

“Please step outside,” the doctor said firmly. “It could be dangerous for the patient.”

Ren wanted to ask more, but the doctor’s commanding tone silenced him. The three of them reluctantly stepped out, confusion plastered all over their faces.

The hospital corridor was cold and quiet. The smell of antiseptic hung heavy in the air. Only the faint hum of machines and the distant shuffle of nurses broke the silence.

They sat side by side on the plastic seats of the waiting area. The harsh fluorescent lights made their faces look pale.

Ren stared at the floor, fingers tapping on his knees unconsciously. Kurogane paced back and forth, scratching his head, while Mira sat hunched over, twisting a strand of messy hair between her fingers.

“‘Run,’ he said…” Ren muttered to himself. “What the hell did he mean by that?”

“Maybe he’s just rambling after waking up,” Mira replied dryly. “People say weird stuff after comas.”

“Or maybe… he saw something while he was out,” Ren said quietly, his tone heavy. “But that voice... he sounded terrified.”

The air went still. Only the ticking of the wall clock filled the room.

Then, suddenly—

“SUCCESS!! SUCCESS!! I CREATED A MONSTER!! HAHAHA!!” Kurogane shouted, jumping up and down. “You saw that, right?! Toma became a super-duper-ultra-crazy beast thanks to ME! HAHAHA!”

Everyone in the waiting room turned their heads. A nurse sighed. A man shook his head.

“Can you shut up for five seconds? You sound like a damn monkey,” Mira snapped.

“Don’t care! Wleee~!” Kurogane stuck his tongue out like a child.

Ren facepalmed. “God… you’re hopeless.”

But deep down, that one word — run — kept echoing in his mind.

Moments later, the door to Toma’s room opened with a faint click. The doctor stepped out, his face pale, eyes wide — a strange mix of awe and unease.

“Are you three family or friends of patient Toma?”

“We’re his friends,” Ren said quickly. “How is he?”

The doctor exhaled, looking at each of them carefully.
“When the patient arrived, his body was riddled with holes. He should not have survived. His internal organs were damaged, his muscles torn, even parts of his skeleton fractured. But…”

He paused, checking the tablet in his hand.

“…Within less than an hour, everything healed completely.”

“No scars. No damaged tissue. Nothing. But the strange part—” he turned the screen toward them “—his cell activity hasn’t stopped increasing. It’s like his body is still regenerating endlessly.”

Kurogane swallowed. “So… he’s like… a mutant?”

“We’re not sure yet,” the doctor replied. “But you can visit him now. Don’t stay too long.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Ren said and hurried inside.

The room was quiet. White curtains fluttered slightly in the breeze. The steady beeping of the monitor echoed softly.

Toma sat on the edge of his bed, facing the window. The setting sun painted his silhouette in gold and shadow.

Mira took a hesitant step forward. “T-Toma?”

No response.

Ren swallowed. “Bro… you can hear us, right?”

Silence.

Then Toma slowly turned his head. His eyes looked empty at first — cold, distant. But then, the corner of his lips lifted into a familiar smirk.

“Heh… why are you guys looking at me like that? I just woke up, not reincarnated.”

“Holy crap, dude! You scared the hell outta me!” Kurogane yelled.

“Well, at least your heart’s working,” Toma replied dryly.

“I swear, I’ll send you back into a coma,” Kurogane grumbled — but there was relief in his voice.

Mira sighed, half-smiling. “You seriously can’t stop causing trouble, even after nearly dying.”

Toma chuckled softly. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be me.”

Ren smiled faintly. But as he looked toward the window, he froze.

In the reflection — a faint shadow of Toma stood behind him, its eyes glowing crimson.

He blinked. The shadow vanished.

"what was that?"

“Tomaaa!” Kurogane shouted excitedly. “What happened to you, man?! You’re like a freakin’ superhuman now! Did your Awakening work? What’s your ability?!”

“Can you not yell for two seconds?” Mira muttered. “He literally just woke up, idiot.”

“Hey, hey! I saved his life! You should be thanking me!” Kurogane puffed his chest proudly.

Ren sighed. “Alright, chill. Let him talk. Toma — how do you feel?”

Toma flexed his fingers slowly. “My body feels light… like something powerful’s flowing inside me. Constantly moving. Alive.”

“Okay, okay, spill it! What skills did you get?!”

Toma glanced at the blue interface only he could see. “It says here... I’ve got one passive skill and two active ones.”

“Read them out!” Kurogane nearly jumped.

“First active skill: [Transformation]. I can turn into anything I eat — and its power doubles.”

“WOOOOOAH! That’s insane! That’s the thing from earlier, right?! When you turned half human, half centipede?! SO COOL!”

“That’s… disgustingly broken,” Mira muttered.

“Second active skill: [Monster Detection]. I can sense any monster within a hundred-meter radius.”

“Useful,” Ren nodded.

“And the passive skill…” Toma hesitated. “It’s called [Predator] — I can gain all the stats and abilities of anything I consume.”

“WHAT?! THAT’S CHEAT LEVEL, MAN!!” Kurogane screamed.

“Of course it’s about eating again,” Mira sighed.

Ren crossed his arms. “So that’s why you ate that centipede…?”

“Yeah,” Toma admitted. “It was disgusting, but… if I didn’t, you guys would’ve died.”

Kurogane slammed his hands together. “Then it’s decided! You’ll eat every monster we find! You’ll become a god!”

“Yup. He’s lost his mind,” Mira said flatly.

They kept talking until night fell.

Kurogane stretched and yawned. “Hooaam… man, today was too much.”

“I’ve got work early tomorrow,” Mira said, standing. “I’m out.”

“Yeah, me too,” Ren added. “Haven’t cleaned my room yet.”

They waved goodbye. But before Ren could leave, Toma grabbed his wrist.

“Ren… wait. We need to talk.”

Ren frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Toma looked down, his voice trembling. “When I passed out… I saw something. The world — destroyed. You guys… dead. And there was another me.”

Ren’s eyes widened. “Another you?”

“He said… he was me. And that one day, he’ll take over my body whenever I feel hungry.”

Ren was silent. “So… when you’re hungry, he shows up?”

Toma nodded slowly.

“And he’s the one who killed us?”

“I don’t know…”

Ren exhaled deeply, then placed a hand on his shoulder. “Alright. I’ll believe you for now. But don’t keep it to yourself. Tell the others too.”

“Okay.”

Ren left the room, his mind spinning with questions.

Elsewhere, deep inside the Union’s simulation facility — a massive chamber of steel and reinforced glass — Alice stood still, sword in hand.

With a single slash—

SLAASH!

The entire room trembled. Walls, pillars, and iron blocks shattered into microscopic dust.

“Holy crap… it’s still unbelievable every time,” said one operator from the control room.

“That’s Class-S for you,” another replied.

A voice boomed from the intercom above.
“Alice, we’ve retrieved data on the last witnesses at the Centipede incident.”

Alice sheathed her sword and wiped her sweat with a towel. Her silver hair caught the light, and a few staff members turned away, blushing.

“Here’s the report, Miss Alice,” a staffer handed her a tablet.

Alice glanced at the screen — four faces stared back: Ren, Mira, Kurogane, and Toma.

“Rank... F?” she muttered.

Then, coldly: “Find them. Bring them to me tomorrow.”

“Yes, Miss Alice!”

Meanwhile, Kurogane slurped ramen in front of the TV.

“Breaking news — the Rank S Centipede left behind unusual energy traces. The Union is currently investigating the source…”

Kurogane munched slowly, opening his status. “Man… what if I awakened too? I’d look so cool…”

He snickered. “Hehehe… HEHEHEHE!”

Then the ramen spilled.

“HOT HOT HOT!! DAMN IT, MY RAMEN!!”

He knelt down to clean the mess, not noticing his status window blinking—
Luck: +1… +10… +100… and rising.

The next day, the four of them gathered at an old junkyard — piles of cars, metal scraps, and concrete chunks everywhere.

“Uh… why are we here again?” Mira asked.

“For documentation!” Kurogane said proudly.

“Documentation of what, exactly?”

“The birth of a god — TOMAAAAA!” he shouted dramatically.

“Oh my god, you’re insufferable,” Mira groaned.

Toma laughed. “Well, I am curious. Haven’t tried my skills properly yet.”

“THEN DO IT! Try blowing that rock up!” Kurogane pointed to a 20-meter boulder.

Toma took a deep breath. “Alright. Transform.”

His skin tore open — black armor-like flesh replaced it. Obsidian scales crawled up his arms. His eyes glowed violet, slit like a reptile’s.

“WOOOOAH! HOLY CRAP THAT’S COOL! …and gross,” Kurogane yelled.

“Shoot the rock,” Ren ordered.

Toma aimed his transformed arm — now a cannon-like appendage — and charged energy.

BOOOOOOM!!

The explosion flattened the junkyard, echoing for kilometers.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Toma shouted.

“WE SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!” Mira yelled back.

Ren stared in awe. “One Awakening… and this much power?”

“SO COOL!” Kurogane screamed. “I’m gonna gamble for awaken too! Right now!”

“DON’T, YOU IDIOT!” Ren and Mira yelled together.

Toma laughed nervously — but his smile faded.

A crushing pressure fell from above. The air thickened — suffocating.

Ren, Mira, and Kurogane instantly collapsed.

Toma barely managed to stay on his feet. “Wh–who’s there?!”

A calm, deep voice echoed. “Oh? Didn’t expect anyone to withstand that.”

A man appeared on top of the wreckage — black leather jacket open, tactical turtleneck underneath, combat pants, high boots, and fingerless gloves. His presence radiated pure menace.

“Who are you?!” Toma shouted.

The man smiled faintly. In an instant, he vanished.

“Better sleep for now.”

The voice came from behind him — and then, darkness.

Ren woke up. The first thing he saw was… endless white.

Mira, Kurogane, and Toma lay unconscious beside him.

“W-where are we…?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t stand up.”

That voice — the mysterious man.

Ren froze. “Who are you?!”

The man grinned. “Me? I’m the god of death. And I’m going to kill you all. Or maybe torture you first? Hehehe~”

Killing intent flooded the room. Ren trembled, body locked in fear.

“He’s the one… who attacked us…” he realized.

The footsteps grew louder.

“Consider yourself lucky,” the man said casually. “You’ll die first.”

Ren clenched his fists, ready to fight—

THUNK!

Something hit the man’s head hard.

“ARGH!! WHO DARES—?!”

“…Hey.”

That cold, familiar voice.

Alice stood behind him, her expression dark with rage.

“O–oh! Alice! H-happy seeing you here, my princess!” he stammered.

“I told you not to touch them, you idiot!!”

She swung her sword. The man dodged instantly, laughing.

“MY BAD, PRINCESS! I SWEAR I’LL BUY YOU CHOCOLATE LATER!”

Ren just stood there, speechless. “W–what the hell is happening…”