Police sirens wailed early in the morning, accompanied by the murmur of voices. Kamishiro Amane woke up and rubbed her eyes, looking as though she hadn't slept at all.
Amane walked over to the window and looked down. The street below was surrounded by crowds of people covering their noses; the stench of decay had stubbornly lingered all through the night.
"Move aside, make way!"
Police officers and forensic investigators lifted body bags into an ambulance. The wail of sirens pierced the entire morning.
Amane heated up her breakfast and boiled some water. Watching the microwave timer count down, her mind drifted back to everything that had happened yesterday.
The water boiled, bubbling away, before Amane finally snapped out of her daze and set the kettle aside to cool.
She took out her breakfast, looked at the steaming food, and picked up a spoon to take a small bite.
*Crack—thud.*
Amane grabbed a garbage bag and headed out. The entrance was packed with people, pedestrian traffic dense and heavy. Amane wove her way straight through the crowd and out.
She walked expressionlessly down the street. Daytime and nighttime were simply two completely different worlds.
The roar of car engines, the chatter of students, and the giant screen in Times Square broadcasting today's latest headlines—there was no trace of last night's horrors in this daytime scene.
The pedestrian light turned green, and Amane followed the crowd across the crosswalk.
"Clock-in successful. Good morning, Kamishiro Amane."
Amane changed into her uniform in the locker room and began her shift. The store manager walked in.
"Amane, you're in so early today. Where's your brother?"
Amane's eyes darted back and forth nervously.
"My brother got sick. He asked me to take a few days off in his place."
"That's true, winter is an easy time to catch a cold. Remember to keep warm."
"Yes, thank you for reminding me, Manager."
"There was gunfire around here last night, and some kind of Man-eating Demon suddenly appeared! Even the military was no match for it. It's turned this city upside down, so you should be careful at night too."
"Understood, Manager."
"I'm going to grab something, wait here a moment."
The manager left the locker room. The radio was broadcasting the latest news, and Amane walked over intending to turn it off.
"Breaking news: Last night, a shootout occurred in our city. All five patrol soldiers involved lost their lives. We now provide an update on the missing and casualty figures..."
Amane reached out to shut off the radio.
"Wujitian, Yuan Yin, illustrious..."
Amane suddenly froze, falling into a state of self-doubt. She stopped changing her clothes and rushed anxiously out of the bakery.
The manager walked back in carrying a red inkpad and two employment agreements.
"Amane, where are you going? I still have something to discuss with you."
"Manager, I need to take half a day off!"
Amane came out, hopped on a public bicycle, and headed for the city center. On the way there, she clearly saw a crowd of people clashing with the military.
"We want to leave this place immediately! We don't want to be the next ones to die!"
"Protest! Protest! Protest!"
Yet the military continued to block the citizens from advancing. The city center had been completely sealed off, with soldiers patrolling the perimeter.
"I'm sorry, we cannot let you leave. Network communications in this city have been cut off, and all exits from the city are blocked to prevent information leaks from causing nationwide panic. Please cooperate."
"We will protect your safety."
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. An officer in military uniform stepped out from within.
Everyone looked toward the source of the gunshot. Amane covered her ears, startled by the noise.
"We said! The military will protect you, so please stop interfering with our work!"
"But we don't want to die!"
Hearing this, Kangmaru pointed his gun at the person who had just spoken, his face dark as he said:
"I said, we will protect you, so please do not interfere with our work!"
"If you continue to disrupt us, I have the authority to suppress you. Do not cause us unnecessary trouble."
The soldiers all raised their riot batons toward the citizens. The crowd stepped back a few paces. Realizing that the military had no intention of helping, Amane hopped back on her bicycle and turned around.
The citizens thought to themselves:
*(This isn't protecting us at all—it's clearly wanting to imprison us!)*
Amane rode back, opened the shop door, and saw the manager sitting in a chair, with two agreements and a red inkpad on the table.
"Amane, there's something I need to tell you. I've been thinking about it for a long time. Given the current situation with these Man-eating Demons and the city being locked down, business is getting worse and worse. I've decided to close the shop. Once I settle your wages, you won't need to come in anymore."
"This is your brother's copy. Help him sign it."
Amane looked at the employment agreement, picked up the pen, wrote her name on the paper, and pressed her red thumbprint upon it.
When she looked at the second copy, the employment agreement suddenly transformed into a death warrant. Amane stumbled back a few steps, terror written all over her face.
"Amane, what's wrong with you?"
Amane's heart hammered against her ribs. The manager's voice snapped her back to reality, and she finally wrote Wujitian's name on the paper.
At dusk, Amane walked home alone, arriving an hour earlier than usual.
Back home, the apartment lacked its usual warmth. Amane took ingredients out of the refrigerator and prepared tonight's dinner.
Her brother was missing, and her job was gone. Amane lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep just like that.
"Don't come near us! Don't hurt my child!"
Amane bolted upright in bed, vaguely hearing voices coming from upstairs.
She checked her phone—it was just past six in the morning. She grabbed a rolling pin from the kitchen, concealed it behind her back, and walked upstairs.
She knocked on the door. Suddenly, the door swung open on its own; clearly, the lock had already been broken.
A little boy came running out in loud tears, throwing his arms around Amane's legs.
Amane witnessed an unimaginable scene: the boy's parents lay dead in pools of blood. Her expression filled with terror, she dropped the rolling pin, which rolled out stained with blood. The interior of the apartment was pitch black, an exact replica of that nightmare scene.
"None of you are getting away."
Amane scooped up the boy and ran back to her own apartment, locking the door behind them.
Though Amane had locked the door, the force of the impacts made the frame groan and splinter, feeling as though the intruder would smash through at any second.
Amane rushed to the kitchen for a kitchen knife, took the little boy into her bedroom, and locked that door as well. The bedroom was their final barrier. Amane shoved a wardrobe against the entrance, using it to barricade the door.
Trembling uncontrollably, she could barely summon any strength. She could clearly hear the Man-eating Demon moving around in her living room. Suddenly, a hand burst straight through the wooden door. Both the boy and Amane shrieked in terror. Amane stopped pushing the wardrobe, wedged herself in the middle, and raised the kitchen knife.
The knife she had just picked up was batted from her grip in fright. As the Man-eating Demon tried to force the door latch open, Amane mustered her courage, picked up the knife, and hacked downward.
Slash after slash, she severed the Man-eating Demon's arm. Amane tossed the detached limb aside as the monster pressed its face against the hole in the door.
"You can't escape anywhere."
The Man-eating Demon took a few steps back, then charged forward at a sprint, slamming into the wooden door.
*Thud—!*
The Man-eating Demon shattered the wooden door, burst into the room, and appeared right before Amane and the boy. Amane saw clearly that this monster looked quite similar to the one that had pursued her yesterday.
The Man-eating Demon closed in. Amane picked up a stool and hurled it; the monster was struck by the sudden projectile and tumbled to the floor. Amane then picked up a suitcase and threw that as well.
"Run! Get out of here!"
Amane shoved the wardrobe over, crashing it down onto the Man-eating Demon. The heavy piece of furniture pinned the monster's body, leaving only one hand flailing against the floor.
Amane grabbed the kitchen knife and hacked off the remaining arm. With both hands severed, the Man-eating Demon was pinned helplessly beneath the wardrobe.
Drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, Amane sat down hard on the floor, her hands smeared with the monster's blood.
She stood up and went to the living room to make a phone call. The little boy still wore a look of terror.
*Thud—!*
Amane whipped her head around. The armless monster had actually pushed itself up from beneath the wardrobe, rising purely on the strength of its legs.
It charged out of the room, slamming Amane backward against the staircase, and moved in to bite her. Amane swung the kitchen knife defensively. The Man-eating Demon bit down on the blade, a malicious grin spreading across its face.
With a single snap, Amane's kitchen knife was bitten in half. The monster pinned Amane to the ground, opening its cavernous jaws wide to devour her.
Amane resisted with all her strength, pushing back with both hands.
*(I feel like I have no strength left... What should I do? I'm so... tired.)*
Amane's arms gradually grew weak as the Man-eating Demon prepared to crush her skull.
Suddenly, a ray of sunlight shone down upon Amane and the Man-eating Demon.
The monster instantly released Amane, its body beginning to sear and burn as if it had been set ablaze.
Only when she watched the burning Man-eating Demon scurry about in agony until it was reduced to ash did Amane finally let out a sigh of relief.
Returning indoors to check on the little boy, she found herself utterly exhausted in both body and mind.
The little boy wept bitterly, clutching the parents he had lost, and Amane's heart churned with sorrow.
Early the next morning, police sealed off Amane's residential area. Learning what had happened from the boy's account, Amane could now truly be said to have lost everything.
Carrying her suitcase, Amane walked down the street. With nothing left to her name and very little money in her pocket, she stepped into a supermarket to buy a few supplies.
As she prepared to check out, Amane looked at the cashier and found him strangely familiar.
"Have I... seen you somewhere before?"