Everyone was running at full speed, as if being chased by something, terrified.

“What’s happening?”

Aurora, couldn’t understand something, stared blankly at the scene. She couldn’t make any sense of the situation.

Finally, within her view, ‘it’ appeared.

The creature looked so bizarre that it could hardly be called human, strolling down the street and swallowing people whole.

Memories from the past flooded Aurora’s mind like a trauma. 61st Notium Street. The monster she had seen that day looked exactly like this.

The streets were filled with people’s screams, and blood was splattering everywhere.

Aurora’s legs gave way, and she sank down, her memory of that day overwhelming her. She muttered to herself,

‘Ah, let me live.’

* * *

At the same time, Brunel Police Station.

[Exclusive Report! Cherry Sinclair, Is the Reason for Her Disappearance Due to the Lancaster Family’s Heir, Eden Duncan Lancaster!?]

[Cherry Sinclair, Secret Meetings with Eden Duncan Lancaster in the Countryside Village…!? “Swan and Crow, Unexpected Combination” Society, Rocked by Shock…!]

Eden crumpled the newspaper he was holding.

“Hah…”

He let out a tired sigh, massaging his temples. What nonsensical scandal was this?

The absence of any mention of Knox was probably due to the potential consequences. To divert attention and cover something up, linking Cherry, the “Lancaster heir,” and the “Socialite Star” would have a more significant impact.

If it were about the Lancaster heir, there would have been no way such an article would be published. In that case, there was only one person left.

‘Could it be Prince Theodore?’

All the articles were centered around Cherry. She had become a rising star in society, garnering everyone’s interest.

‘I’m sorry for Cherry Sinclair’

He thought he should talk to her, and he took out a pocket watch from his jacket to check the time.

It was around 4 PM. Cherry had mentioned she would go to Kint village and return around 6 PM. Of course, he hadn’t personally spoken to her, but he had overheard her conversation with Knox.

As Inspector Hans returned to his seat, he glanced at Eden.

“Oh, you’ve seen that newspaper too. The whole village is in an uproar because of it.”

Eden realized what Chief Hans meant and was slightly surprised.

“Have you all read this newspaper?”

“It mentioned Brunel. It seems Sophie, the owner of the grocery store in Kint, brought news that Brunel was mentioned in the newspaper. It’s about our village, so everyone is interested, and they all read it.”

This would undoubtedly hinder Eden’s investigation in the future. Eden let out a sigh and felt a headache coming on.

“More than that, I didn’t know she was the famous ‘Cherry Sinclair.'”

As Chief Hans spoke, a police officer, Colton, who had been observing from the side, chimed in.

“Now that the villagers know about the heiress, they’re all going crazy. Some are even self-reflecting if they’ve done anything wrong to the heiress. There are people who want to shake hands with her too.”

Yet even Colton, who was witnessing all of this, still referred to Cherry as the “Heiress.”

Eden stood up from his seat, thinking he might as well go out to meet Cherry if she was coming soon.

“A, a murder case!”

At that moment, a man burst into the police station and shouted, “There’s been a murder at the carriage rental station, officers! Please help!”

For a while, a heavy silence filled the police station. Everyone thought the man was talking nonsense.

Colton, who was closest to the man, approached him.

“What are you talking about? Come over here and calm down. Tell us the details.”

“I don’t have time for that!”

As he struggled with the man, a commotion could be heard outside the police station.

“What’s going on?”

Colton opened the police station door first. The chaotic scene of the village, like a battlefield, came into view.

Ahhhh!

A woman’s scream pierced the air, followed by the sight of people running across the street.

Crash!

A gas lamp, perhaps torn from the ground, flew from somewhere and crashed into a house across from the police station.

“What in the world…”

Colton, who had stepped outside, was at a loss for words, shocked by the horrifying sight.

Crunch!

Then, an unidentified creature, running from the direction of the carriage rental station alleyway, came into Colton’s view.

“W-What’s that…?”

The creature that had chased after it had caught a fleeing person, bit into them, and in an instant, devoured them.

Ahhh!

Screams echoed everywhere.

Amidst the chaos, the police officers stood helplessly in the village.

“Sh*t, hey, Officer Colton! What are you standing around for? Aren’t you going to help the people!?”

Swearing, people were scrambling out, including Eden, who rushed outside to take the lead in rescuing people.

* * *

I stood at the Kint train station, waiting for Harrison the entire time.

When we spoke on the phone, Harrison mentioned that he had booked a ticket for around 4 PM.

However, even after waiting until after 6 PM at the Kint village train station, he still hadn’t shown up.

As the sun began to set and all train services ended, Harrison was nowhere in sight.

‘What’s going on? Why is he so late?’

I called Sinclair Mansion from the train station, but there was no answer.

A sense of unease crept over me.

After a while, I gave up waiting at the station and boarded a carriage to return to Brunel village alone.

‘It’s probably nothing…’

As I left Kint village behind, suddenly there was a commotion behind me.

“What’s that?”

I pulled my head back from the window to look behind me, and the coachman asked, “Should I stop and turn back?”

“What? To Kint? No. Just keep going.”

I shook my head at the coachman’s words and settled back into my seat, looking ahead. I had thought I heard screams from somewhere…

Recent stress had been getting to me, so I was sure I had misheard.

‘Still, there is still 10 days left.’

Harrison was probably fine. It was inconvenient not having a cell phone at times like this.

Anyway, as I arrived on the outskirts of Brunel village and disembarked,

Thud. I stepped on a puddle of blood.

“…Blood?”

Screams of horror could be heard from somewhere, mixed with pleas for help.

Finally, the chaotic scene of the village came into view. People on the streets were in a state of panic, fleeing in all directions.

It was a lively village just yesterday, bustling with activity.

Thud-

I stumbled in the middle of the road, pushed by the fleeing crowd. From behind the people, grotesque creatures emerged.

Yes, as absurd as it sounds, those were monsters.

Graaaah!

The mouth of a creature that vaguely resembled a human opened wide, swallowing people in an instant between its tightly packed teeth.

“F*ck.”

I had faced monsters twice before.

However, dealing with a small number of monsters and the current situation were worlds apart.

Many people were bitten and either died or transformed into monsters themselves.

‘There’s still 10 days left! Why…?’

The world had ended, and it had happened even faster than expected.

Amidst this chaos, what caught my eye was…

‘Why is that person there…?’

In the middle of the street, a man in a police uniform was helping people escape, engaging in a fierce battle with the monsters.

It was Eden.

‘I expected it, but it’s surprising to see him actually doing this.’

A man who shouldn’t die more than anyone else, willing to sacrifice himself to save others.

It brought me to my senses. Because I realized that this was not the time to do this.

‘If that man dies, how will we develop the antidote?’

I quickly got up and ran towards the center of the village. I saw a weapon shop with shattered glass windows.

I entered the weapon shop, avoiding the fleeing crowd. I found an axe, a weapon I could easily handle, and took it with me.

I mercilessly struck down the approaching monsters.

Schlaaash-

Green blood from the monster splattered all over my face.

Thud

Another monster next to it raised its head. It had only one eye, the size of my fist.

I paused for a moment as our gazes met, not wanting to provoke it.

Its single pupil contracted and dilated repeatedly, observing me intently.

Without blinking, I stared back at it. I planned to strike it in the head with my axe when it let its guard down.

Then, the sound of hard black shoes walking through a pool of blood caught my attention.

Ta-ang!

Immediately, the sound of a gunshot echoed ominously in my ears.

In my field of vision, a tall man came into view. He had just shot and killed the monster that was in front of me.

“Damn, it never ends.”

The man looked around, swearing roughly, and turned towards me.

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