The morning sun began climbing through the blanket of black smoke shrouding the sky over Shinjuku. Dim, yellowish light washed over the surface of the main road stretching gray beneath the hill. The charred stench of burned-out vehicle wrecks mingled thickly with the odor of rotting blood carried on the wind, creating an atmosphere that was utterly strange, feral, and terrifying.
Renjiro led the way, moving stealthily and keeping close behind a line of private cars that had crashed into one another and been crushed along the sidewalk. Behind him, Kazuki moved silently despite being wrapped in an American football uniform, his left arm cradling a thick full-body Taekwondo pad. Daiki brought up the rear, his eyes shifting wildly behind strands of two-toned hair—yellow and black—as he watched the gaps between the alleys and the shop windows to their right.
"Two more blocks ahead," Renjiro whispered without stopping his silent stride. Both hands gripped the handle of a steel golf club. "An old acquaintance of mine owns a traditional weapons store at the intersection of the commercial street near the old district."
"This main road is way too exposed," Daiki rasped softly, studying the shattered windows of the clothing stores lining the sidewalk. "A horde of monsters could appear from behind any corner if we accidentally make even the slightest sound."
"Through the row of shops beside us," Renjiro decided within seconds. He pointed his chin toward a narrow alley between two deserted, dark commercial buildings.
The commercial shopping lane was sheltered by a glass canopy, most of which had shattered and collapsed onto the ground. Rows of convenience stores, ramen shops, and fresh markets stood burned out and wrecked. The three of them placed each foot down very slowly on the tiled floor, which was covered in scattered garbage, broken dishes, and stains of thick liquid.
But after they had gone only a few dozen yards down the lane, a strange, wet, disgusting sound suddenly came from inside a shop building on their left.
*CRUNCH... SQUELCH... CRUNCH...*
It sounded like raw flesh and bone being chewed with utter madness and greed.
Renjiro abruptly raised his right hand, signaling them to stop. Kazuki and Daiki immediately froze in place, pressing themselves behind a refrigerated food-delivery truck parked crosswise in the lane.
"What was that?" Kazuki whispered as quietly as he could from behind the American football helmet he was wearing.
Renjiro slowly peered through a gap in the back doors of the refrigerated truck. His gaze went straight into the **Fresh Fish Store**, whose corrugated metal roll-up door had been torn open halfway from the top.
Inside the fish store, amid melting ice, puddles of briny water, and shards of glass aquariums, stood a single zombie. The monster might once have been an ordinary adult man or a store worker, but now its swollen, muscular body, covered in dense two-inch-long fur, was kneeling on the floor. Its two hands, stained with black blood, were frantically clutching and stuffing dozens of fresh raw tuna and snapper into its torn-open jaws!
The raw meat, scales, and fish bones were devoured without a trace, crushed beneath rows of rotting teeth.
But what happened next made the blood in all three of them run cold as the hair on their bodies rose in unison.
The moment every bit of raw fish had disappeared down its stomach, the zombie's body suddenly began shaking violently and convulsing on the floor!
*CRACK... SNAP... CRAAAAAK!*
The sharp sound of bones breaking, stretching, and swelling abnormally exploded from inside the monster's body. The flesh along its neck, shoulders, and chest writhed wildly, like dozens of worms moving beneath the layer of skin.
Its physical form began undergoing a **horrifying, sudden mutation and evolution**!
The coarse fur along its arms and chest instantly fell away, replaced by layers of thick, blackish-gray scales erupting over its hardened skin. Wet gill slits bulged from along the monster's neck and jaw, spewing thick mucus. Its back and shoulders swelled massively, rising and widening until the proportions of its human body transformed completely into a giant fish-bodied monster hybrid with an enormous bulk—the equivalent of a full-grown bear!
*GROAAAAARRRR-GSHHHH!*
The bear-sized fish hybrid lifted its head and let out a wet roar. The blow from its arms, now resembling thick, muscular fins, smashed the store's heavy wooden prep table into splinters!
Daiki's eyes went wide behind the gap in the refrigerated truck, his breath held tight in his chest. "M-mutation... That monster changed form after eating raw fish!"
Kazuki clenched his MMA gloves tightly, his eyes fixed in disbelief as he watched the biological transformation unfold right before them.
A horrifying scientific truth surfaced in all three of their minds at once: *Zombie-infected cells don't just infect humans—they also respond and mutate drastically according to the organic matter or animal genetic material they consume!*
The bear-sized fish monster turned its massive body, flaring its sharp dorsal fin as it let out a low growl and sniffed the air inside the ruined fish store.
Kazuki angled his body, planting his feet and preparing to raise his Taekwondo shield in case the giant monster charged out of the shop.
But Renjiro quickly stopped Kazuki by gripping his chest with his left hand. Renjiro slowly shook his head, signaling **them to retreat and ignore it** (*skip*).
"Don't deal with it right now," Renjiro whispered, his voice extremely cold yet filled with mature tactical calculation. "With a steel golf club and a wooden baseball bat, fighting a bear-sized hybrid monster would be tantamount to throwing our lives away. We need sharp weapons and real protective gear first."
Daiki and Kazuki immediately nodded in understanding. Renjiro's decision was both precise and realistic. Picking a fight with an anomaly that size without quality edged weapons would only waste their strength and supplies.
Moving extremely slowly and without making the slightest sound, the three of them backed away through the darkness of the shopping alley, leaving the Fresh Fish Store and the giant hybrid monster raging alone inside.
They quickened their stealthy pace through the two remaining blocks, focusing all their energy, reflexes, and vigilance on a single destination at the far end of the intersection: **the Traditional Weapons Store**.