Smoke curled around Yuto's boots as the shape stepped out from the ashes. It was tall—twice the size of the wolves from before. Its body was covered in black bone armor fused with patches of torn fur and glowing veins of gold. Its face looked like a twisted wolf skull, hollow-eyed and burning orange from within.
Yuto didn't move.
He couldn't.
His system energy was zero. The weapon in his hand—his pistol—was dead weight. Still warm, still real, but dim. He tapped the status screen.
> [ System Energy: 0% ]
[ Recharge: 1 minute 34 seconds. ]
A minute and a half of nothing.
Behind him, the girl was breathing fast. Not panicking. Hurt. Scared. But not hysterical.
"You alive?" he asked without turning.
"I… yes." Her voice cracked. "I think so."
"What's that thing?"
She hesitated. "A Corrupted Alpha. I've seen drawings in a bestiary before. It's not supposed to be here."
"It evolved," Yuto muttered. "Just like those wolves."
She nodded weakly. "Alpha types mutate when they feed on enough mana. That shot you fired—it shook the mana around the clearing. It probably drew it in."
"Fan-freaking-tastic."
The Alpha was circling now. Slow. Measured. Its claws clicked against the rocks as it paced. Its nose sniffed the air near the burned corpses of the wolves, then turned toward them.
It wasn't wild. It was thinking.
Rin tried to move. She winced and slumped against a log, clutching her side.
"Stop," Yuto said sharply. "You're bleeding."
"I can still cast… maybe."
"Magic?"
"Yes. A little." She looked at his gun, eyes flicking over it like it offended her. "What… is that?"
Yuto didn't answer.
"Is it some kind of ancient wand?" she asked. "A forbidden relic? It doesn't have a mana crystal. No chant. No focus. I've never seen a weapon like it."
"That's because it's not magic," he said flatly.
She blinked. "Then… what is it?"
He glanced at the pistol. The sleek black metal. The smooth grip. The glowing runes—the system interface. The design was clean, efficient. Familiar.
"It's called a gun," he said.
"A… what?"
"Forget it. You wouldn't understand." He wasn't being rude. Just tired. She wouldn't. No one here would.
"But it hurts magic creatures," she whispered. "Without casting. Without mana. That's—"
"Loud, too," Yuto added. "Which is bad when you're trying not to get eaten."
The Alpha snarled. It had found them again.
"I can try to distract it," She said. "Make an illusion."
"Won't work unless it thinks."
"It does think."
She started tracing symbols in the air with her fingertip, fingers shaking. Her voice fell to a whisper.
Yuto crouched beside her, voice low. "What's your name?"
"What?"
"Name. Tell me."
She stared at him, confused. "Rin."
"Okay, Rin. I'm Yuto. I'm not from around here. Just dropped into this disaster. But I've got one trick. One weapon. And it's out of juice."
She swallowed hard. "Then we stall."
"Exactly."
The Alpha growled—low and rumbling, like a train grinding along old tracks.
"Ready?" Yuto asked.
"No," Rin whispered. Then her fingers flashed.
A ghostly image of Yuto appeared on the far side of the clearing. It moved slightly, as if breathing. The Alpha's head snapped toward it.
And it charged.
"Now," Rin hissed.
Yuto bolted, fast. He used a rock for height and launched himself into the air. His system flashed:
> [ System Energy: 12% ]
[ Recharge time: 47 seconds. ]
He didn't care. He aimed mid-air.
The Alpha noticed him—twisted fast. Too fast.
Its claw caught him mid-air and slammed him down.
Everything went white.
Pain exploded in his ribs. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. The monster stepped over him, growling deep.
> [ Recharge: 8 seconds... ]
"Come on, come on…" Yuto croaked.
> [ 3... 2... 1... ]
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
Blue flashes tore through the Alpha's skull. One eye burst. Its jaw shattered.
It staggered back—but didn't fall.
Instead, it screamed. A deep, raw, soul-ripping scream.
It leapt.
Yuto pulled Rin close, shielding her with his own body.
Then—
> [ SYSTEM FAILSAFE ENGAGED. ]
[ BLOODLINK CORE ACTIVATING. ]
[ SYNCING... ERROR. SYSTEM INTRUSION DETECTED. ]
The world froze.
The Alpha, mid-pounce, froze like a paused video. Smoke froze mid-air. Trees, fire, even Rin—everything was still.
Except Yuto.
A presence pressed into his mind like cold iron.
A red screen shimmered in front of him.
Then it spoke—not with a voice, but directly into his brain.
> "WHO GAVE YOU THAT WEAPON?"
The figure behind the message began to form—part shadow, part machine, wearing a cracked pilot's helmet with glowing crimson eyes. Old. Ancient. Angry.
> "THAT SYSTEM IS NOT YOURS."
The red-eyed figure in the air stared at Yuto. Its face was a mix of metal and bone. Wires crawled across its skull like veins. The cracked helmet bore a symbol—faded, but still sharp: a silver triangle inside a burning circle.
Yuto's grip tightened on his gun.
"What are you?" he asked.
> "NOT YOUR ENEMY."
The voice was everywhere—above, behind, inside. Like it lived in the silence between thoughts.
"Then what's this? A dream? A system glitch?"
> "A CORRECTION."
"YOU ARE AN ERROR."
Yuto narrowed his eyes. "Thanks. I get that a lot."
The figure stepped closer without moving its feet. The space around it twisted. Even though time was frozen, the trees leaned away from it, as if afraid.
> "YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.
YOU ARE A GUNNER IN A WORLD WITHOUT GUNS."
"You're damn right."
> "THE SYSTEM YOU HOLD IS OLD. DANGEROUS. BURIED FOR A REASON."
"Yeah? Funny how no one told me that before I got shot in the back and dropped into fairyland."
The figure tilted its head. There was something strange in its voice now—curiosity, maybe.
> "YOU SURVIVED INITIATION. MOST DO NOT."
"Lucky me."
> "THIS WORLD REJECTS YOUR EXISTENCE."
"Good. I reject it right back."
The figure paused.
> "THEN PROVE YOUR RIGHT TO LIVE."
"THE ALPHA WILL STRIKE. YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE. NOT WITHOUT EVOLUTION."
"What do you want from me?"
The red glow flared.
> "SAY YES."
"To what?"
> "THE BLOODLINK CORE. A TRUE UPGRADE. A BOND BETWEEN YOU AND THE WEAPON."
Yuto hesitated. His hand ached. The gun vibrated softly, almost humming.
"What's the price?" he asked.
> "PAIN."
"MEMORY LOSS."
"CORRUPTION, IF YOU ARE WEAK."
"That's a lot of fine print."
> "OR... DIE HERE."
Yuto looked at Rin, frozen mid-scream. Her face was twisted in terror. The Alpha hung mid-air above them, mouth open wide, claws out. Inches from tearing both of them apart.
He looked back at the figure.
"Fine," Yuto said. "Do it."
> [ BLOODLINK CORE ACTIVATED. ]
[ USER PERMISSION CONFIRMED. SYSTEM REWRITING... ]
His arm exploded in pain.
He screamed.
Light poured out of the veins in his skin. His hand burned. His back arched. The gun melted—literally—its shape breaking apart and fusing into his forearm like liquid metal.
The pain wasn't just physical. It tore through his memories—childhood, war, training. He saw flashes. Images. Things that weren't his.
Other Gunners.
A battlefield of stars. A planet made of smoke. A soldier firing a rifle made of pure fire.
Then—darkness.
---
Time snapped back.
WHOOM—!
The Alpha's pounce finished. But Yuto was no longer beneath it.
He was above it.
In mid-air.
Eyes glowing blue-white. Right arm fully transformed—veins like circuitry, gun fused to his skin, runes running all the way to his shoulder.
He looked down at the beast.
"My turn."
He pulled the trigger.
No bullet.
Just light.
A point-blank shockwave slammed into the Alpha's skull and blew it straight into the dirt. Trees bent outward from the blast. Rin hit the ground hard, rolling.
The monster twitched. Snarled weakly.
Still alive.
Yuto landed beside it.
His foot stepped on the Alpha's back. He aimed the glowing weapon at its head.
"Learn this," he said coldly. "I'm not from your world."
He fired.
The forest went silent.
The Alpha's head was gone.
His screen lit up.
> [ BATTLE COMPLETE. XP GAINED: 750. ]
[ LEVEL UP: 2 → 4 ]
[ BLOODLINK CORE STABILIZED. NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: "HOLLOW SHOT" ]
[ WEAPON CLASS: EVOLVED. ARC PISTOL → GUNARM TYPE-01 ]
[ STATUS: CRITICAL – USER EXHAUSTED. ]
Yuto dropped to one knee.
"Still alive…" he muttered. "That's new."
He turned as Rin approached, limping.
She stared at him. At the weapon fused into his arm. At the glowing runes.
Her mouth opened.
Then shut.
Then opened again.
"What are you?" she asked softly.
Yuto looked up at her.
Tired. Hurt. Furious.
He smiled faintly.
"That's a long answer."
She knelt beside him. "You saved me. Twice."
"You distracted it. I call that even."
She shook her head. "No. That thing… nothing could have killed it. No sword. No spell. No flame. You destroyed it with a cursed relic that shouldn't exist."
"Gun," he said. "It's called a gun."
Her eyes narrowed. "Where did you come from?"
Yuto opened his mouth to answer—
> [ SYSTEM ALERT. ]
[ WARNING: ANOTHER REINCARNATED ENTITY DETECTED. ]
[ DISTANCE: 0.9 KM AND APPROACHING. ]
He froze.
Rin noticed.
"What is it?" she asked.
Yuto didn't reply.
He stared into the trees.
Because whatever was coming…
It wasn't friendly.