The West District

The smell of smoke grew stronger with every corner Rirus turned.
He walked without rushing.
Sirens echoed throughout Lunaris. People ran in the opposite direction, some crying, others desperately trying to call their families.
"The factory exploded!"
"There are people trapped inside!"
"Call the firefighters!"
Rirus walked past them all as if their voices were nothing more than background noise.
The blue window continued floating before his eyes.
---
EMERGENCY QUEST
Event: Massacre
Time Remaining: 01:56:18
Objective: Prevent the Scarlet Event from escalating to Rank C.
---
"What exactly am I supposed to stop?"
No answer.
The System remained silent.
When he arrived at the West District, he found a strange scene.
The explosion hadn't been powerful enough to justify such chaos.
The factory was only partially destroyed, but the real problem was coming from inside.
A security guard stumbled out through the main gate.
His uniform was torn.
His eyes...
Completely empty.
"R-Run..."
He collapsed to his knees.
His skin began to darken like rusted iron.
Within seconds, he became a brittle statue that crumbled the moment it hit the ground.
People screamed.
Rirus didn't.
He quietly observed the fragments for a few moments.
"...This isn't normal."
The window changed.
---
New Information Obtained
Phenomenon Identified: Corruption
Threat Level: D
---
Another man emerged from inside the factory.
Then another.
And another.
They all walked slowly.
Their eyes were pitch black.
Their skin looked as though it were rotting while they remained alive.
A police officer raised his gun.
"STOP!"
None of them responded.
Gunshots echoed through the street.
The bullets pierced their bodies, yet they kept walking.
Then one of them grabbed the officer.
The man's skin immediately began to darken.
Within seconds...
Another body turned to dust.
Panic spread through the street.
Rirus took a step forward.
"So... this is it."
He didn't feel fear.
He felt curiosity.
A new window appeared.
---
HIDDEN QUEST UNLOCKED
First Contact
Touch the Corruption.
Reward:
Hidden Class
---
Any sane person would have run away.
Rirus reached out his hand.
The screams around him faded from his mind.
The moment his fingers touched the creature's shoulder...
The world froze.
Everything turned white.
A voice echoed from every direction.
"Compatibility confirmed."
"You were not chosen."
"You were born for this."
Unbearable pain shot through his entire body.
Black veins spread across his right arm.
The creature before him couldn't withstand it.
Its body aged hundreds of years in a single second before collapsing into ashes.
The blue window reappeared.
---
Class Unlocked
Bearer of Decomposition
Skill Acquired:
Touch of Ruin (Lv. 1)
Everything you touch begins to decay.
Control: 3%
---
Rirus stared at his own hand.
For the first time in many years...
He smiled.
Just slightly.
"...Interesting."
At that very moment, every remaining monster slowly turned its head toward him.
As though they had found something far more important than any human on that street.
The System's final message appeared, one word at a time.
---
Warning.
You have been found.