"Life. What a boring, gray sludge of mindless drones. Every day it's the same. Wake up, go to school, sit in a classroom while some old geezer babbles about equations and history. Who gives a shit? Tokyo's full of people just trying to stay in their lane, act like good little sheep. Makes me wanna hurl."
Kuro kicks a loose can on the sidewalk as he walks down the crowded street of Akihabara. Neon lights are flashing, and crowds are buzzing, but all he sees is a sea of lifeless faces, glued to their phones or pretending to care about the latest fad.
"Look at 'em. It's all a joke. Same suits, same fake-ass smiles, same six-figure assholes who think they run the world. They shuffle around like ants. But oh, man… what I wouldn't give to see the anthill burn. Watch 'em squirm and run, screaming like their whole life just turned to shit. I LIVE for that. This world needs a spark… or better yet, a fucking explosion. And lucky for them, I'm about to light the fuse."
Kuro's silver skull earrings jingle as he walks, his spiky orange hair soaked by the light drizzle falling from the sky. His tattoo of a four-leaf clover is visible peeking from under the sleeve of his jacket. He grins, thinking about how he'd rather see the world in flames than spend another day pretending to care about rules or the future.
He watches as the maids outside Maidreamin café wave at passersby, all bubbly and cute. They disgust him. Behind them, rich men in suits stroll out of arcades, bragging about their latest business deal.
"Yeah, that's rich. Coming from a six-figure asshole like you. Take it up the ass and sniff it." He muttered to himself, placing his hands in his pockets.
Suddenly, Kuro notices something. The neon lights on the Maidreamin sign flicker more violently than usual, buzzing like a hornet's nest about to explode. Kuro slows his pace, his eyes narrowing as the entire street seems to hum with an odd energy.
"What the hell?" Kuro tilted his head in confusion.
The ground beneath him vibrates, and the sky above Akihabara pulses with an eerie, electric blue light. Kuro looks up, grinning as if the moment he's been waiting for has finally arrived. The neon signs of the surrounding arcades and cafés begin to flicker wildly, casting bizarre shadows across the street.
Then, without warning, the Maidreamin sign pops, sending sparks and glass raining down. The crowd gasps and stumbles backward, but Kuro steps forward, laughing under his breath.
"Oh yeah… that's what I'm talking about. Things are about to get real fun." Kuro chuckled to himself, tweaking his skull earring.
The air in front of him splits with a CRACK, like glass shattering, only it's reality itself. Kuro watches as a rift tears open above the maid café, a swirling portal of blue light and static flickers. The people around him scream, backing away as something massive emerges from the tear.
Kuro's grin widens. A pack of hideous creatures, glitching and snarling, their pixelated forms shifting between grotesque monsters and glitchy shadows, leap from the portal. The first beast tackles a maid to the ground, its jagged, digital teeth sinking into her arm as she shrieks in terror. Blue blood, glowing and unnatural, pours from her wound.
"Oh man! That's priceless! Not so cute now, are ya?"
The crowd is thrown into chaos. Rich men in suits, students, tourists, they all begin to scream and run, but not Kuro. He stands there, soaking in the madness, his heart pounding with excitement.
As more of the glitch-beasts charge through the streets, tearing into the panicking crowd, Kuro watches the carnage unfold, his eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store.
"Look at 'em run! Oh, I LOVE it! Like little ants scurrying for cover! Where's your six figures now, huh? What special kind of stupid are you to think money's gonna save your ass today?"
A beast leaps onto a pompous-looking student, his uniform still crisp from his elite academy, his face twisted in terror as the creature's glitchy claws dig into his shoulder. The kid screams, dropping his expensive phone as he's dragged to the ground.
"Yo! What up, bro? You gonna cry? What's the matter, anime hero wannabe? Thought you had it all figured out, huh? Guess not!" Kuro mocked pointing his finger at the kid with the saiyan hairdo.
Suddenly, the glitch in reality spreads, and the iconic Akihabara Station screen, the one playing anime ads on a loop, begins to flicker and distort. The massive display glitches out, the smiling face of an idol warping into something monstrous before the screen shatters with a deafening BOOM. Glass rains down on the street, the lights from the surrounding shops short-circuiting, sending sparks into the air.
The rift above Akihabara continues to widen, and even more creatures pour through, this time accompanied by a swarm of glitching zombies. They're different from anything Kuro's seen, pixelated faces, glowing blue blood, their limbs jerky and unnatural as they move toward the nearest group of terrified people.
Kuro watches as one zombie targets a group of businessmen, suits crisp, watches gleaming, who had just exited an arcade. They try to run, but the zombie is faster, its corrupted hands grabbing one man by the throat. The man's screams are cut short as the zombie bites into him, blue blood gushing as his body convulses.
"Dun, dun, dun, another one bites the dust! BAHAHAHAHAAA!" Kuro laughed, doubling over and slapping his knee.
Another zombie tears into a woman in a fur coat, dragging her to the ground as she shrieks, her expensive heels clicking against the pavement in a pathetic attempt to escape. Kuro's laughter echoes louder as the chaos unfolds.
Kuro's laughter is unhinged now, his whole body trembling with excitement. He walks through the destruction, unconcerned by the danger around him. His mind is racing, but it's not with fear, it's with joy.
"This… this is what I've been waiting for. The world finally makes sense. All the fake shit, all the rules, they don't mean anything anymore. It's survival of the fittest, baby. And guess who's at the top?" Kuro grinned to himself.
He feels alive, more than he ever has before, watching as people fall to the monsters and zombies. Buildings tremble as the beasts tear through them, and Kuro knows this is only the beginning.
As Kuro revels in the chaos, a shadow moves above him. He glances up and sees a massive, grotesque creature looming from the rift. Its eyes lock onto Kuro, and for the first time, a challenge presents itself. This beast is different, larger, more powerful, and fully aware of its surroundings.
Kuro's smile widens, his hands tightening into fists.
"Now this... this is gonna be fun."
The street was a warzone.
Neon signs buzzed with electric fury, flickering wildly as the rift above Akihabara tore wider, spilling glitching beasts into the city. Kuro stood at the center of it all, watching the chaos with a manic grin. His pulse thrummed in his ears, every crack of reality and burst of destruction sending adrenaline coursing through his veins. The world was finally shaking off its monotony, and he was loving every second of it.
He ducked as one of the smaller glitch-beasts charged past him, jaws snapping at the air. Its body flickered in and out of existence, its edges pixelated and sharp like a badly rendered video game character. Kuro sidestepped easily, barely breaking a sweat as he watched it barrel into a group of panicking pedestrians. Screams rang out as the creature pounced, dragging a businessman to the ground.
Kuro's eyes gleamed as the man's expensive suit was shredded by claws, blue blood splattering across the pavement. His laughter bubbled up uncontrollably.
"That's what happens when you walk around thinking the world owes you something, huh?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Bet you didn't see this coming, Mr. Six-Figure Salary."
The man's screams were cut short as the beast sank its teeth into his throat, and Kuro couldn't help but chuckle. He reveled in the sight of all these once-important people scrambling for their lives, their status and money meaningless in the face of the chaos that now ruled the streets. The weak were being culled, just as they should be.
A loud roar interrupted his thoughts, and Kuro turned to see something far more interesting. A massive creature, easily twice the size of the others, was lumbering out of the rift. Its body was monstrous, half wolf, half digital abomination. It moved like a predator, its red eyes gleaming with intelligence as they locked onto him.
Kuro's grin widened. "Now we're talking."
The beast circled him, growling low and deep. Its fur bristled with static, the very air around it distorting. Kuro's fingers itched for a weapon, and his eyes darted around, spotting a length of metal pipe lying amid the wreckage of a collapsed sign. Perfect.
As the beast lunged, Kuro dove for the pipe, grabbing it just in time to block the creature's snapping jaws. The impact sent a shockwave through his arms, and he stumbled back a step, but his grin never faltered. His heart raced, adrenaline surging through him like wildfire.
"Come on, you overgrown mutt! You want a piece of me? Let's see how tough you are!"
The beast snarled and lunged again, but this time Kuro was ready. He swung the pipe with all his strength, landing a solid blow to the creature's side. Sparks flew as the metal connected with its glitching form, and the beast yelped, its body flickering violently. Kuro laughed, exhilarated by the fight.
"Yeah, not so tough now, are ya?" he taunted, dodging another swipe of the beast's claws. The creature growled, furious, and charged at him again, but Kuro ducked low, driving the pipe upward into its jaw. The beast howled, its head jerking back as it struggled to maintain its form.
Around them, the street was descending further into madness. Glitch-zombies, their bodies warped and distorted, continued to swarm, their glowing blue eyes fixated on anything that moved. Kuro watched, almost distracted by the carnage unfolding around him.
A group of high school students, preppy, pompous, the kind who thought their status made them untouchable, had gathered near an overturned van, trembling as they watched the creatures tear through the city. One of them, a boy with slicked-back hair and an expensive watch, clutched his phone, frantically trying to call for help.
Kuro shook his head. "Seriously? You think a phone's gonna save you from this? What are you gonna do, call daddy to come pick you up?"
As if on cue, a pair of zombies lumbered toward the group. The boy with the phone screamed, stumbling backward, but it was too late. The creatures were on them in seconds, biting and clawing, tearing into their perfect uniforms with no regard for their status.
Kuro watched with wicked amusement as the scene played out. The screams, the panic, the desperation, it was like watching a building collapse, brick by brick. He felt a twisted sense of satisfaction as the so-called elites were reduced to nothing more than meat for the monsters.
"Guess that private school education didn't teach you how to survive, huh?" he muttered, laughing to himself. "Go ahead, try and fight back! Let's see what kind of hero you are now!"
But his attention was drawn back to the fight at hand as the massive beast shook off the disorientation from his earlier blows. It growled, its eyes glowing brighter as it prepared to strike again. Kuro's grip tightened on the pipe, his heart racing with excitement.
The creature charged, faster this time, its jaws wide open and ready to tear him apart. Kuro barely had time to react, but he managed to sidestep the attack, swinging the pipe with all his strength. The blow connected with the side of the beast's head, sending it sprawling to the ground in a mess of glitching static and snarls.
"Come on, is that all you've got?" Kuro taunted, standing over the creature as it struggled to get back on its feet. "I thought you were supposed to be tough. I've seen tougher street cats than you!"
The beast let out a guttural roar, its body flickering as it rose unsteadily. But Kuro wasn't going to give it a chance to recover. With one swift movement, he slammed the pipe into its skull again, and this time, the creature crumbled under the force of the blow, its body dissolving into blue sparks.
Kuro stood over the remains, panting but grinning wildly. The street was a disaster zone now, bodies and debris scattered everywhere. But to Kuro, it was beautiful. It was exactly what the world needed, anarchy, destruction, survival of the fittest.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the rift still hovering above the city. More creatures were coming. He could see their shadows, massive and menacing, moving within the swirling static. And instead of fear, all he felt was anticipation.
"Looks like the fun's just getting started," he murmured, cracking his knuckles as he prepared for whatever came next.