A Person.
A person.
It was a person. At least, in silhouette. It had a head, arms, and legs.
But all the angles were wrong.
Its elbows bent backward—not outward, but inward. Its knees were the same. Folded sideways. No human knees fold sideways. Its neck was twisted about 120 degrees, yet it faced straight ahead. Its shoulders sagged like they were dislocated, and those limp arms were moving.
Creak.
A sound came.
Every step it took. Every time its joints bent and extended. The noise of bones grinding between bones. A frequency no human body could produce, friction no human bones could make.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
And it was walking this way.
Lee Seojin opened comms.
"Crow. Entity confirmed. Humanoid. Abnormal joint structure. Estimated Danger-grade."
"Alpha, visual confirmation. It's moving. Slow speed. About 3 kph."
"Bravo, four civilians spotted in east alley. Roughly 40 meters from entity."
Lee Seojin's mind raced.
A Danger-grade humanoid. If its joints were disassembling and reassembling in real time, high chance it was an erosion type. The kind that eroded the skeleton of anything it touched in the same way. Engaging in close quarters right away could be risky. Needed to confirm its range first.
"All units, prepare to engage. Civilian evacuation priority. Secure 50-meter radius."
"Alpha, confirmed."
"Bravo, confirmed."
"Delta, moving in from west side."
The civilians were starting to notice, one by one.
A woman at the alley's end stopped. She'd seen it walking, with its elbow bent backward. A scream erupted soon after.
"Kyaaah—!"
One scream set off a chain reaction. Nearby pedestrians turned their heads. They saw it creaking along. Faces went pale. They backed away, started running, someone tripped, and another stepped over them.
"Civilian panic!"
"Bravo, evacuating! Herding them west!"
Screams, footsteps, and comms chatter mixed into chaos.
Through the noise.
Creak.
Creak.
Its steps didn't stop. Slow. Unchanging.
Lee Seojin stepped out of the store. Drew her blade from inside her coat. Compact suppression model. 40cm blade. A familiar weight in her hand.
The black dog lay prone in front of the store. Head raised. It just watched the thing approach. Didn't move.
Kong-i sat on a chair inside the store, staring out. Her legs were still. No telling where her gaze was through those sunglasses.
Lee Seojin passed the black dog and advanced.
"Alpha."
The rooftop Alpha responded.
"Anti-anomaly round chambered. Clear line of fire. Preemptive shot ready. Awaiting orders."
Lee Seojin hesitated.
Firing could work on a Danger-grade. But the gunshot noise and mana shockwave... The black dog was right there. If the Calamity-grade got stimulated by combat sounds...
This whole street was gone.
Plus the Management Bureau's anti-Calamity protocols. Only engage preemptively. Lee Seojin knew them well.
"......"
But.
Its intentions were unknown. Not firing now could let casualties spiral. And Ha Yujin was inside the store.
30 meters.
Creak.
25 meters.
Lee Seojin spoke.
"Alpha, commence firing."
Bang!
A gunshot echoed from the rooftop. Muffled through the suppressor. The anti-anomaly round flew. Mana-infused 12.7mm AP round. Designed to pierce normal anomaly hides.
Thud.
The round buried into its chest.
It staggered back a step.
Then stopped.
Ribs around the impact started moving. Creak. Bones pushed out, clamping the round. Squeezed, twisted, ejected it. No blood. The round clattered to the ground and rolled.
"Round ejected! No effect!"
Lee Seojin was already charging.
Mana flowed into her blade. An invisible line extended from the tip.
Line Boundary. Lee Seojin's unique ability. Mana on the blade extended slashes beyond physical reach. Invisible cuts. 12-meter range.
The slash carved space. Aimed at its left arm.
Slash!
The arm severed. Above the elbow. It hit the pavement.
But.
Creak.
Bone sprouted from the stump. Joints reassembled in midair. Bone called to bone. Muscles came second. Then the arm reattached. Same form as before.
Lee Seojin's teeth ground together.
The next instant, its arm moved.
Lengthened unnaturally. Elbow bent three times, extending double. Like a whip.
Couldn't predict the range. The extended arm swept a response team member aside.
Thump.
Dull impact, and the team member slammed into the wall. It cratered.
Another team member lunged from the opposite side, stabbing its back. Felt the blade tip hit spine. But the vertebrae creaked, spun, and bit the blade. He tried pulling it free—no dice. The blade was locked bone-deep in its spine.
Creak.
Thump.
Its rear elbow whipped back, smashing his chest. He flew far and tumbled.
Lee Seojin leaped next. Unleashed slashes in sequence. Three. Neck, waist, knee. All targeted simultaneously. Astonishing speed.
All three severed cleanly.
Splatter.
All three reassembled.
Creak. Creak.
It looked at Lee Seojin.
Neck twisted even more grotesquely. Nearly upside-down now, peering up at her. Eye-like things where eyes should be. No focus.
The extended arm grabbed her blade.
Creak.
The blade trembled. Metal twisting. Erosion. Its power spreading to her weapon.
Lee Seojin dropped the blade and backpedaled fast. Whoosh. Its other arm whipped empty air. Her coat hem tore. A split-second slower and her ribs would've gone.
Lee Seojin rolled across the ground.
Her back hit the sidewalk blocks. Breath caught. Vision shook.
It looked down at her. For a brief moment. Then looked away. Seemed disinterested. In a mere fallen human.
It walked on. Toward the store.
Creak. Creak.
Glided past the fallen response team.
Lee Seojin grabbed her comm from the ground.
"Agent Kang."
Her voice cracked. The back impact had reached her diaphragm.
"Evacuate the site. Immediately."
Agent Kang's voice came back over comms.
"What about the target?"
Lee Seojin's lips tightened.
Telling her to drag Ha Yujin out the back... But Ha Yujin wouldn't go quietly. Kong-i was out front, Heukgu outside. Forcing her would create its own variables. And if Ha Yujin vanished, how would the black dog react?
No quick answer.
Then a voice from comms. Bright, light, no tension at all.
"Hello~? I tried everything on."
Ha Yujin. From behind the fitting room curtain.
Lee Seojin bit her lip. What now?
By then, it had reached the store front. Hand on the handle.
Creak.
Metal twisted. Erosion spreading wherever it touched.
Click.
The instant it tried entering.
Boom!!
It flew.
Still gripping the handle, it rocketed away. Doorframe ripped off. Body skidded across pavement. Gouged the ground. Skree. Didn't stop till 20 meters later.
"......"
The whole alley seemed frozen. Even comm static gone, utter silence.
It slowly rose.
Grind.
The sound had changed. Not creak, but grind. Joints reassembling poorly. Forced together, something broken.
Grind. Grind.
It glared at its attacker.
Black shadow.
The black dog.
The black dog's right forepaw was swollen. Body still small-dog size, but that paw grotesquely enlarged. Bigger than a human head.
It tilted its head, as if baffled. But no long deliberation.
It kicked off the pavement blocks and charged.
Creakcreakcreak.
Joints loosened, speed ramped. Arms extended, legs twisted for propulsion. Humanoid form dismantling and reforming for running. Fast. Afterimage in an A-rank hunter's vision.
But.
Crunch.
Eyes couldn't follow.
Lee Seojin's. Alpha's scope. Bravo's naked eye. Nothing caught the moment.
Only the result.
Where the anomaly had been: nothing. Just traces. Three pavement blocks shredded, red-and-black smear atop.
Whoosh—!
Shockwave hit late. Store windows all shattered. Two display racks toppled. Lingerie flew into the air.
Beige, pink, black. Amid the dazzling colors, Kong-i sat expressionless. As if nothing happened.
And.
In Lee Seojin's memory, watching it all, one fragment surfaced.
Three years ago. Sejong.
Calamity-grade 'White Night'.
It was night. But became day. Sky burned white. Eyes closed, light still pierced. Eyelids meaningless. Light burned through skin, seared retinas.
Lee Seojin fought 58 hours nearly blind. Gripped her blade, gauged positions by mana flow, slashed. Surviving was a miracle; vision returning, the second.
But left sensitive to bright light. Why she still wore her coat this spring. Habit of avoiding direct sun.
That was a Calamity.
So maybe she'd been complacent.
Lee Seojin's eyes twitched.
The black dog before her. Heukgu.
"This is......"
Calamity.
The word stuck in her throat. Wouldn't come.
Then.
"Kong-i!"
Ha Yujin burst from inside the store.
Bra half-on over training clothes. Top thrown on hastily, inside-out. Tag sticking out.
"You okay? Everything fine?"
Ha Yujin scooped up Kong-i. Kong-i blinked blankly in her arms. Nodded.
Ha Yujin looked around.
Glass shattered. Two racks down. Lingerie scattered on floor.
Looked outside. Pavement cracked in spots. Lee Seojin sitting on ground. Coat torn. Dust on face.
"Wh-what is this? Seojin?"
Lee Seojin stood. Took longer than usual. Back impact lingered.
"There was a gas explosion."
"Gas explosion?"
Ha Yujin looked around again.
"Old gas line in the next building. Must've blown during construction. I was outside too, got hit by the shockwave..."
Plausible on-the-fly excuse. Lee Seojin brushed dust from her coat. Casually covered the tear.
"No major injuries, thankfully. Fire department's on the way."
As she spoke, her gaze flicked to Heukgu. He'd shrunk back to normal size. Lying as if nothing happened, then started wagging when Ha Yujin appeared.
Ha Yujin tilted her head at the explanation.
"......A gas explosion does this much?"
Racks toppled, glass gone, pavement split, people down. Seemed excessive for gas.
Thankfully, Ha Yujin didn't press.
"Heukgu."
Ha Yujin squatted, still holding Kong-i. Heukgu lifted his head. Tail wagged faster.
"Scary, huh? That explosion was loud."
Heukgu's nose touched her hand. Sniff sniff. Licked once.
"Good boy. Waited so well."
"......"
Lee Seojin silently watched the scene.
This... was a Calamity.