"Ah—ahhh…" Jason Han screamed on the chair, his fat body thrashing for seven or eight seconds before he finally calmed down.

  "I… I'm not dead?" Panting, he looked down. A bullet had struck his right arm, yet oddly there was no blood—only a deep black pin-hole.

  Then the arm began to "melt," then "ferment," until—gurgling—it swelled into a huge tumorous mass and splurt-ed the bullet back out.

  A few seconds later the arm slowly returned to normal.

  The other three watched every second of it.

  Officer Huang holstered his gun. "Jason, that arm is definitely Beast. None of the talent sequences I know include so bizarre a mutation." He rubbed his temples and frowned. "But you, right now, are still human."

  "Right now?" Jason wilted.

  Huang sighed and turned to Skyler. "Your take?"

  "Skyler—save me!" Jason was near tears. "You didn't abandon Kevin—how can you bear to kill me?"

  "Not killing—yet," Skyler said.

  "Why not?" Kevin sounded disappointed. "He's useless; off him."

  "Useless? I'm way more useful than you—you—" Jason stopped short of blurting "Lost Beast."

  Skyler said, "The mutation started after that white cat bit him. If it spreads through his whole body, we can kill him then. If it stays in the arm, Jason is more valuable alive."

  "Exactly!" Jason's survival instinct flared. "I can heal—I'm the party's only support! I'm useful!"

  Huang pondered, then nodded. "Fine. Keep him tied up; observe for a few days."

  He looked at Kevin: "The glorious duty's yours. Feed him—don't let him starve."

  "No problem." Kevin thumped his chest and grinned. "I'll take good care of him."

  …

  The three left the underground garage and returned to the living room.

  It was already 5 a.m. without their noticing; dawn was near. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, a bustling riverscape spread out. The three sank into bean-bag chairs, sipping beer while the rippling water shifted from gray-blue to pale pink under first light.

  After a round of discussion, Officer Huang concluded, "Jason's condition is new to me too. But he's probably not a Beast—at least not yet."

  Skyler pondered, "That white cat that bit him—was it a Beast? I thought Beasts only disguised themselves as humans—can they appear as animals, too? And if some Beasts bite you, do you get infected, like zombies?"

  "No idea," Huang shook his head. "A contact from the Organization once told me the world holds far more than just ‘Lost' and ‘Wrath' Beasts… What we know is only the tip of the iceberg."

  At that, Huang glanced sideways at Kevin.

  Kevin had been hyped all night and had even partially Beast-shifted in battle; now, exhausted, he was slumped on the sofa snoring.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "That friend of yours… might be a new subtype of Lost Beast."

  Skyler nodded.

  He'd noticed, too: Kevin was nothing like old Mr. Liu.

  Mr. Liu automatically blanked out any spoken mention of "Beasts." What reaction visual or first-hand Beast evidence might trigger in him was unclear, but Huang believed such stimuli could push a Lost one into berserk Beast-form.

  Kevin, however, filtered nothing—words, images, even direct encounters—yet never went berserk. He simply recorded, understood, and rationalized them, firmly believing he was human. Could it all be… because his IQ was low?

  "Maybe it's just me," Huang said wryly, "but ever since I met you, the world feels less stable. Some delicate balance is breaking, things sliding toward chaos. I've been Awakened for years—first time I've felt this."

  "…" Skyler didn't know how to reply.

  "I've met plenty of Awakened," Huang said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Some strong, some weak. Some reckless, some forever hiding. Some crazy, some ice-cold…"

  He narrowed his eyes. "Most of them ended up dead—one way or another."

  "You're different," Officer Huang glanced sideways at Skyler. "Kid, you've got a… special vibe."

  "Do I?"

  "Yeah. I've a feeling you'll live a long time."

  "Really?" Skyler liked that. Truth be told, he feared death—when you're dead there's nothing; while alive, there's hope.

  "Which is why… I think I'm in danger," Huang said, lowering his voice.

  "Why?"

  "Read a lot of manga as a kid. The ones who live long are usually the protagonists. Folks around them? They die young…"

  Skyler sweat-dropped; hard to refute that twisted logic…

  Huang stood. "I've decided—I'll keep my distance from you."

  "Huh?" Skyler blurted, startled. "Don't ditch me, Officer!"

  "Not ditching," Huang said, exhaling smoke with an enigmatic grin. "I mean we must join the Organization fast. More teammates around you means the odds of me getting killed get… nicely diluted."

  Skyler was speechless. Uncle, maybe you're the real transmigrator here!

  Huang pulled a sticky note, scribbled an address and time. "Midnight tonight. You and Lynn meet me there—I'll take you to the interview."

  "Got it!" Skyler took the note.

  Skyler grabbed a short nap at Kevin's place before heading to school.

  Kevin stayed behind to watch Jason Han—and "cultivate" further.

  After last night's sudden power-up, he was sure the breakthrough came from his practice; he was so fired-up that Skyler could probably string him along for a few more days.

  When first-period study ended, Skyler asked Lynn up to the roof and gave her a brief account of the night's events—soft-pedaling Kevin's "berserk mode."

  Lynn made no comment.

  Later that morning Skyler asked the English class rep, Mindy Wan, about a few questions; flattered, she explained them gladly and then—along with several classmates—invited him to lunch.

  He accepted, spending a pleasant lunch with the group; everyone assumed his earlier aloofness was just grief over Vivian Li's death.

  Nothing happened in the afternoon.

  Nothing happened during evening study hall.

  After evening study hall, Skyler met up with Lynn in the narrow alley just outside the school—their usual rendez-vous spot.

  The moment he saw her, Skyler started taking off his jacket.

  "No need," Lynn said.

  "No disguise tonight?" Skyler asked, a little surprised.

  "Right." Lynn glanced at the note. "Address is No. 121 Huang Song Street, Feiyang District. It's across the river and way too far to walk."

  "So what's the plan?"

  Lynn thought a second. "We'll just take the last subway openly and aboveboard."

  "Got it."

  As they left the alley, Lynn looped both arms around Skyler's, tilting her head onto his shoulder. "Let's pose as two love-struck students—it'll look natural."

  "Fine by me." Skyler had no objections; in a city crawling with Beasts, having a high-level bodyguard clinging to him felt wonderfully safe.

  They caught the subway and, half an hour later, exited in Feiyang District on the river's west bank. A twenty-minute walk followed, during which Lynn even stopped at a late-night food stall for spicy hot-pot skewers—she loved málà-tang.

  Huang Song Street was an old neighborhood slated for demolition—rows of squat two-story concrete buildings. Most shops were long-shuttered, the pavement cracked and pitted, the few streetlights flickering; any security cameras were surely "out of order."

  Following the numbers, they soon located No. 121.

  It was an unremarkable shopfront with a half-shuttered, rusty roll-door. A faded blue curtain hung inside; beyond it, strobing light and the sounds of punches and explosions revealed a row of aging arcade cabinets.

  "Didn't know arcades like this still existed." Skyler used to adore them as a kid—fifty cents could keep him there half a day. He'd been terrible at the games, mostly standing behind older boys, watching them one-credit clear the machines; in hindsight, they were the first "game streamers."

  "Come on, let's go in," Lynn said, pulling a mask over her face.

  "Hold up," Skyler stopped her.

  "What is it?"

  "Give me one song's time before we head in."