Zaen walked ahead, looking for clues. Whatever the anomaly was, it was quite strong considering the notification of his guard dogs dying flooded in. If he didn't find it soon, all of his Graveborns would perish.

"Oh, come on, I don't have the time to play hide and seek!" Zaen exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice.

Without wasting any time, Zaen started to look for any oddities around him. The scattered corpses of the Graveborns guided him towards a small building. It was more like a utility room next to the male dorms.

After going around for a minute, Zaen finally found a slightly ajar door. It took him that long because the door wasn't registering in his perception. He should have known something was off then, but he kept pushing.

The moment he walked in, his perception suddenly went into overdrive. Everything around him was covered in static textures, but it wasn't because it was an anomaly.

"This place… feels familiar."

In fact, the entire building reminded him of something. He got goosebumps when he connected the dots.

There was a reason why this building stood out from the rest... this building didn't belong to their dimension. It belonged to the same dimension where he had fought the Endless.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zaen exclaimed through gritted teeth.

An anomaly capable of summoning humans into its realm had to be inherently strong. To think the higher-ups would endanger everyone by releasing such an anomaly was messed up.

While Zaen was thinking all this, his feet touched something. There were dozens upon dozens of corpses inside the room. Each of them was torn to pieces, with thick blackened blood splattered all around the floors and the walls. Those were all his Graveborns.

And the worst part?

Someone was sitting in the middle, surrounded by the corpses, having the feast of its life.

"No... way..."

Zaen instinctively backed away after seeing the familiar silhouette. How could he forget the jagged claws that took his eyes from him? Even though he could only see the static field, Zaen was sure the one before him… was the Endless.

The next moment, the anomaly disappeared from his sight. Simultaneously, Zaen felt someone looming over him… just like he did during his first encounter with the Endless.

He quickly turned and kicked the creature away. Only for the anomaly to jump backwards. The anomaly was drenched in blood, but that wasn't what Zaen was focusing on… it was staring at the severed arm dangling between the anomaly's jaws.

—x—

FORCE ANOMALY DATA PAGE

Designation: HX-122

Codename: Mawspawn

Grade: C

Classification: Hostile Xeniform

Description:

HX-122 refers to a class of smaller humanoid predators genetically or anomalously related to HX-199 "Endless". Though significantly weaker and lacking resurrection traits.

Averaging 1.6–1.8 meters in height, they possess elongated claw-like forearms, a hunched posture, and pale, and have semi-translucent skin that appears to be stretched over a poorly developed body.

>> Known Abilities:

• Siphon: Getting hit by its claws can lead to constant bleeding or hemorrhage.

• Extended Tongue: Can extend a weakened barbed tongue to trip, pull, or restrain prey. The appendage can be severed easily with a sharp object.

• Agility: Can execute small leaps with speeds up to 40 km/hr, but lacks emergency maneuverability.

Unique Trait: None.

>> Identified Weaknesses:

• Any conventional weapon: Depending on the grade and clearance, any weapon can be used to execute the anomaly. It is recommended to engage it in combat from a distance.

• Tongue: Is easily severed and causes severe panic within the anomaly.

• Weak cranial shell: Headshots yield instant termination.

>> Known Incursions:

• Incident Gamma / Daegu Outskirts (2016): Three packs of Mawspawns, totaling 18 specimens, were terminated by local forces. No civilian loss. All memories regarding the incident were wiped.

• Incident L-Theta / Manila Underground (2019): A large den of anomalous entities was discovered beneath sewer systems. 43 bodies were recovered. The incident is believed to originate in a prior HX-199 event. No anomalies were found. The search is ongoing to this day.

• Incident Cobalt / Marseille Port (2023): A HX-122 pack attacked cargo handlers. All 12 specimens were found and executed. No signs of HX-199 nearby. The search ceased after a severed arm of the Endless was recovered from the seabed.

>> Psychological Advisory:

HX-122 encounters do not typically cause long-term trauma. However, survivors have shown signs of short-term stress and even insomnia. It is recommended to wipe the memories of any non-organization personnel affected.

—x—

"You're not the endless? Freaking hell, you scared me!"

For a moment, Zaen had thought the higher-ups were certainly crazy for letting an anomaly like the endless out. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

As soon as the Mawspawn saw Zaen, it spat out the arm it had been feasting on before licking its lips with its tongue, eyeing to feast on the fresh meat. Its tongue roughly resembled the tongue of the Endless.

But at the end of the day, it was just a third-rate copy of the S-rank anomaly.

He quickly pulled out a throwing knife from his inventory before hurling it towards the Mawspawn. He was hoping to end the fight as fast as possible. However, he wasn't expecting the anomaly to dodge the knife so effortlessly.

The anomaly had gained some intelligence, probably from consuming so many Graveborns. While he didn't care about the anomalies the Maw killed, he was pissed nonetheless because those creatures were somewhat useful.

He once again threw a knife at the ghoul to get a rough idea of its movement patterns. After all, the info age said to attack it from a distance, and that's what he wanted to do.

As the knife flew towards the anomaly, strangely, it didn't move. The knife hit it point-blank in the head and fell on the floor with a soft clang. For the first time since Zaen's life turned to shit, his trusty knife had failed to deal any damage to the enemy upon contact.

Zaen was shocked for a moment, but then his shock turned into a smile.

"Pummeling you would give me more satisfaction than using the knives."

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