Shiina Taki sank into the hard, uncomfortable black leather sofa in Umiri's home.
The pair of black dog ears on her head drooped limply, pressed against her dark hair, as if they too felt their owner's despondency.
She had just experienced a complete breakdown, both physically and psychologically—anyone who suddenly discovered they had grown dog ears would likely not react more calmly than her.
"So," Yahata Umiri sat cross-legged on the floor beside her, a tablet resting on her knees.
"You're really not specifically role-playing as a kemono friend to comfort and care for me, are you?"
"Absolutely not!" Taki yelped as if her tail had been stepped on, springing slightly from the sofa, her dog ears instantly perking up alertly.
"Who would... grow something like this for such a thing!" She irritably scratched at the unruly fur on top of her head.
"Is that so," Umiri withdrew her gaze, her tone of regret seeming more genuine, "A bit of a shame."
"You..." Taki was about to retort when Umiri shoved the tablet in front of her face.
The screen displayed a discussion board from an anonymous forum, the page flooded with posts containing keywords like "Ikebukuro," "lockdown," "video removal," and "animals."
"It seems you're not an isolated case," Umiri's voice remained unruffled as her finger slid across the screen, opening a popular hot post that had risen to the top.
"There are many other 'kemono friends.'"
The post described information, both true and false, that netizens had heard through rumor.
Umiri clicked on an animated GIF attachment within the post.
The image shook violently, with chaotic streets and piercing police sirens in the background.
In the center of the frame, a massive, muscular "humanoid creature" let out a deafening roar.
It was covered in thick fur, its head displayed distinct bear-like features, fangs exposed, and eyes bloodshot.
It roared, raising a huge, fur-covered bear paw with sharp claws high above its head, bringing it down with immense force onto the roof of a police car attempting to block it!
CRASH—!
The metal car roof instantly caved in like paper, the entire police car violently shook from the terrifying blow, and the window glass shattered everywhere.
The GIF froze on the terrifying moment of the "half-bear man" roaring skyward and the police car twisted and deformed.
...Taki's breath caught instantly, her throat felt constricted, unable to utter a sound.
This is not movie special effects at all, that wildness, that pure sense of destruction...it's too real!
However, the scenes from the Haneoka infirmary two days prior coldly resurfaced in her mind. This world had long since revealed a surreal corner to her; absurd things truly seemed to be happening.
"Preposterous, but not impossible."
Taki's voice was a bit dry, as if admitting this fact itself required immense effort.
"Speaking of which," Umiri put away the tablet, her fingertips rapidly tapping the screen, "Although all related videos across the internet were taken down at light speed, I know a place where I can definitely dig up first-hand information."
As she spoke, she clicked on a deeply hidden browser bookmark.
The screen instantly darkened, and a few seconds later, an extremely eerie webpage slowly loaded.
Against a dark purple, almost black background, countless pale white spider web patterns shimmered with faint phosphorescence. And in the very center of this sinister web, an even more unsettling presence was coiled—a monstrous giant snake outlined in pure white light.
It had no eyes, its forked tongue flickered slightly, and its body twisted and coiled within the spider web, emanating a cold, watchful, spine-chilling aura.
At the top of the webpage, a line of similarly pale, blood-dripping art-style title slowly appeared:
Spider Silk Monopoly.
"This...is this thing reliable?" Taki looked at the overwhelming cult-like vibe of the website, a strong sense of unease rising in her heart, her dog ears twitching nervously.
"Just trust me," Umiri's tone exuded confidence.
She tapped her finger, skillfully entering a long string of complex passwords to log into her personal account.
"Actually, I've had a few...um, business exchanges with the founder of this website," she carefully chose her words.
"Although we only exchanged a few sentences, from the precise information source and the watertight phrasing, I could sense a professionalism."
"Is that so..." Taki leaned closer, half-believing, half-doubting.
The page jumped to the personal center. An extremely simple, yet sophisticated interface.
And most conspicuous was the badge next to the username "BassStrider," shimmering with dark golden light and almost filling the progress bar—VIP: Lv.8 - Singularity.
"A nearly max-level VIP?!" Taki gasped, her gaze at Umiri instantly changing.
How much money or how many "scoops" did she have to dump into this creepy website?
"Work requirement," Umiri said without batting an eye, as if stating something perfectly normal.
She clicked on her inbox, where an urgent email from administrator [△] lay quietly, its title glaring crimson: [Urgent: Ikebukuro Beastification Incident - Internal Briefing (Lv.8+)].
Opening the email, there was no superfluous chatter, only a clear, highly information-dense list of key points:
Highly Locked-Down Source: Ikebukuro "Tropical Style" fruit tea chain, the core contamination source; numerous beastification cases are directly or indirectly linked to its beverages.
Doubtful Mode of Transmission: Widespread waterborne transmission. Highly suspected specific "additives," after absorption through the digestive tract, trigger uncontrollable mutations at the human genetic level. Specific trigger mechanism unknown.
Scope of Impact: Centered on Ikebukuro Sunshine City, a 2.5 km radius is the severely affected area. Confirmed to have spread to parts of Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Itabashi. Extremely rapid spread, showing exponential growth.
Symptom Manifestation: Extremely varied among individuals. Ranging from minor localized features like beast ears/tails to deep organ and tissue mutations throughout the body. Severe cases lose human consciousness, behavior patterns become fully bestial, and aggression is extremely high. Intelligence retention is inversely proportional to the degree of mutation.
Current Countermeasures: Joint military and police lockdown of the Ikebukuro core area. Attempts to isolate infected individuals have had minimal effect. Avoid drinking tap water or unpackaged food.
Attached below were several extremely clear, yet chilling, on-site photos: burning streets, riot shields torn apart by immense force, scale-covered faces behind glass windows, feathered figures curled up in corners...each one like a postcard faxed from hell.
The more they looked, the graver their expressions became. The impact of the photos far surpassed any textual description.
This was by no means an ordinary riot or disease; this was a supernatural disaster sweeping through the city.
At the end of the email was a deep blue link button with no text description.
Umiri clicked it without hesitation.
The screen instantly switched, and a live stream window popped up, devoid of any platform branding and with an extremely minimalist interface.
The image quality was astonishingly high; the camera seemed to be mounted on top of a tall building, overlooking the apocalyptic core area of Ikebukuro below.
The once bustling streets now looked monstrous.
Twisted and deformed vehicles blocked the roads, shattered glass glinted dangerously in the sunlight. Shop windows were smashed to bits, dark and hollow inside, like gaping mouths ready to devour people.
Occasionally, strange, contorted figures could be seen moving slowly through the ruins, or tearing at something like wild beasts. Thick smoke rose from a nearby block, staining the grey sky even dirtier.
In the upper right corner of the live stream, a cold string of numbers displayed: Live Viewers: 4,821 people.
This was an exclusive live stream for top VIPs.
Just then!
An extremely bright, vivid yellow, starkly out of place against the surrounding desolation, suddenly burst out from the street corner in the lower right of the frame.
Was that a...delivery electric scooter?
The rider wore a conspicuous bright yellow Teiai delivery uniform, a helmet, and was not robustly built.
She rode the little electric scooter, weaving and drifting through the obstacle-strewn streets with astonishing agility and speed! Tires screeched piercingly against the pavement.
And behind this flash of bright yellow—
Dozens of figures, varied in form and exuding a wild aura, chased closely, roaring like an enraged pack of beasts.
Some ran on all fours like wolves, some were bloated and muscular, others glided at low altitude with tattered wing membranes spread on their backs.
The deafening roars, the noise of claws scraping the ground, the whoosh of wings beating the air—even through the screen, one could almost feel the impact.
Wherever the beast pack passed, the already fragile obstacles were easily smashed and sent flying.
"Is that a...delivery rider?!" Taki was so shocked she nearly jumped off the sofa, and Umiri also showed an expression of extreme astonishment.
Delivering food in this hell? This person was either insane, or...possessed a courage unimaginable to ordinary people.
The camera seemed drawn to this sudden scene, rapidly zooming in and focusing.
The bright yellow figure, in its rapid dash, seemed to glance back at the surging tide of beasts behind it; the expression beneath the helmet was unclear. But the next moment, she sharply twisted the handlebars, the little electric scooter let out a strained whine, and narrowly scraped past an overturned bus, plunging into a narrower alleyway nearby.
Just as the camera tried to follow the bright yellow deeper into the alley—
BOOM!!!
A dull, indescribably terrifying roar, as if from the depths of the earth, suddenly exploded. The sound was so immense that it caused the live stream footage to violently shake and display static noise for a moment.
The camera, as if stunned by this roar, sharply tilted upwards, pointing fearfully towards the sky.
The camera view spun and shook wildly upwards, finally capturing the scene at the top of a nearby skyscraper—
On the steel framework of a giant billboard, a suffocatingly massive shadow slowly stood up.
The creature had a long, sharp head, its pale bone wings gleamed eerily in the dim light, and its huge, hollow eye sockets seemed capable of swallowing souls.
It raised its sharp, terrifying head towards the grey sky, and once again spread its bone wings covered with a strange membrane—
—!!! (Unspeakable shriek)
It was the triumphant song of an ancient sky overlord, proclaiming its rebirth. The sound wave, like a physical shockwave, instantly swept across the entire live stream screen!
Immediately after, the live stream camera seemed to be directly hit by this terrifying sound wave; the image was pulled down by gravity, falling, and then suddenly went black—
Signal lost.
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