Detective Blackthorn’s desk phone rang, and he glanced at the caller’s contact card. It was the seventh precinct squad, not the genetics lab–the lab results from the animal’s dna sample would have to wait.

He picked up the phone as Charlize Avery looked on with excitement. They were in the detective’s van, set with various measuring instruments and several notepads, as well as old news clippings pinned to the holographic board via Lumien tech holo-pins.

“What happened?” he asked gruffly, putting the caller on speaker so that his assistant could listen in.

“D-detective, there’s been another attack! Another woman was found dead near the bridge by Central Plaza!”

Blackthorn motioned his head at Charlize, who instantly understood what to do. She opened the map on the holographic board ad placed a holo-pin on the location of the last incident at Central Plaza.

A dotted white line appeared automatically, connecting the two holo-pins that marked the locations of the incidents.

“Is it the same perpetrator? What’s the state of the body?”

“Her throat’s been…ugh… ripped out!” the officer replied, his gagging audible over the intercom. “I’ll send a picture, but don’t blame me for what you see…”

Neither Blackthorn nor Charlize were fazed as the officer forwarded the photo of the new crime scene, the gored body of the woman laying haphazardly on the floor. This time it was an elderly woman, and the scene would make any normal person sick. However, detectives were trained to keep a level head even when presented with disturbing images.

Charlize hummed a tune absentmindedly as she waited for the detective’s comments.

Blackthorn looked over the data that the policeman sent over, noting a pattern. “This animal targets the weak and exposed. Especially those that are alone.”

“Do you think we should make a service announcement?”

The detective nodded. “We have to. It’s not good to cause undue panic like the press likes to do, but this is becoming a serial incident, and we are having too difficult of a time tracking this animal. It’s almost as if the tracks vanish after some point… You’re right. We have to inform the bureau and issue a public service announcement for tonight.”

––

Zack liked to think that he pushed himself to his limits at the gym over the last few months. He did pull ups, he did curls, he even started bench pressing with weights that could severely injure him if he dropped them the wrong way… and yet nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the pure terror that the monkey pose instilled in his heart.

This yoga thing was not to be underestimated. He felt like every muscle fiber in his legs was going to tear as he attempted each pose, but this one was just something else. It challenged his very soul and drove him to the absolute breaking point and beyond. He grit his teeth and pulled through as well as he could, which still wasn’t all that great all things considered.

For his efforts, he received another notification near the end of the session.

You have gained +1 dexterity.

Now he had 11 dexterity total, or 4 (+7) if he read it the other way. Additional stats in the parentheses gained through training or leveling up were nowhere near as impactful as the base stats everyone was given at the very beginning. It was like base stats were a mountain, given at birth so to speak and unshakeable, and additional stats were a simple rock placed on top. But even a small rock could rival a mountain eventually when stacked well enough.

He was just a little bit more nimble with each level up of dexterity. But getting the level up was not easy at all. Zack felt like he had to stretch his body to its absolute limits to be able to get a single stat point. In comparison, leveling up in the dungeon felt a lot easier. However, the dungeon only opened up once a week. He remembered Oni’s words once more–the ability to train in the dungeon was a privilege, and the earlier you started, the better.

“Okay class, we will end here for today. Remember to drink lots of water and keep peace in your heart,” Grace Kim said, tapping the Wakiki statuette which made the tiki mask torches flare up.

“Thank you teacher.”

A few of the students went up to Grace with stars in their eyes. “I saw your livetube account! You’re so hot!”

Grace laughed and started chatting with the students, easily slipping into her identity as a livetube star.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

So she’s even popular among the girls, huh…

He waited for the students to finish talking to Grace, then approached her. “Did I do okay?”

A sly smile appeared on Grace’s face. “You know that you just got me another student? One of the girls here was just here for her second trial session, but she just decided to become a full time student and it’s all thanks to you!”

Zack tilted his head to the side, confused. “Really? What did I do?”

Grace giggled. “You didn’t notice, did you? The brunette to the far left. She was really trying to give you a show. Last time, she was all bent out of shape from the first pose, but this time she was doing her best to tease you a little. She definitely likes you.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “Why don’t you come in tomorrow as my co-instructor?”

“I’ll do it, but I’m not really that great at yoga yet,” Zack replied truthfully.

“It’s alright. Just stand around and look pretty like usual, and the yoga knowledge will come with time. You being around gives the Tiki Shack brand a good name. We’ll pay you a hundred and fifty dollars an hour, is that alright?” she asked, offering a ridiculous amount.

Zack’s eyes widened. That was a hell of a lot more than what a port loader made. “Yeah, that’s really good!” he answered enthusiastically.

“Great, we’ll see you tomorrow then! Our classes are normally held on the weekends. I’ll also throw you a bonus for any new client you attract–”

Grace continued to work out the details with Zack, and they just kept getting better and better. It turned out that rich girls were willing to pay a lot for anything that kept their appearance up, which included their health and fitness routine. The only downside was that the hours he could work were only limited to two days on the weekends for a few hours each, but that was more than good enough. He’d originally been planning to work three eight hour shifts as a port loader Friday through Sunday anyway, so this was a far better alternative.

Zack hurried back home in a good mood. He was about halfway home when his phone vibrated.

He checked his phone and saw something that surprised him– a bureau of public safety public service announcement. These kinds of notifications only came out during hurricanes or other major disasters. What was going on here?

[Message from the Bureau of Public Safety: This is a Code Red emergency. An unknown animal threat has been verified with the police. There are four known casualties so far. A special military task force has been dispatched to combat this threat.]

[The situation will be dealt with as soon as possible.]

Zack furrowed his brows. This seemed to be related to the attack he saw on the television in La Minot Department Store. But why was the animal still not caught yet? It seemed out of character for a man-eating animal to evade detection for so long.

He suddenly felt a lot less safe walking back home. Opening his inventory, Zack double checked his weapons, just to make sure.

—

Four monks cloaked in all black emerged into the Beast Realm from the portal that linked the Realms, followed by a monk who wore a bishop’s adorned hat and flowing robes. He was a grand bishop of the Order of the Celestial Monks, and even the Lion himself would not dare touch him.

The grand bishop and his servants were respectfully met by an entourage prepared by the Lion of the North. They were a dozen or so beastfolk standing in front of carriages laden to the brim with various jewels, exotic flowers, gold, as well as several chained humanoid beastfolk.

The leader of the entourage, the black bear who was the primary assistant to the Lion, bowed as a greeting to the grand bishop.

“These are the offerings that we have prepared, as per custom,” the black bear said.

The bishop spoke, his voice raspy and alien. “What do you want?”

Despite the black bear standing at more than twice the height of the bishop, he shook like a leaf after being addressed by him.

“My liege requests a Law to be written into the dungeons,” he finally said, kneeling to hand over a sealed scroll to the bishop.

The grand bishop did not move. Instead, one of his servants rushed over and took the scroll, then unsealed it, reading it out loud.

“Kill the progenitor of the 174th cycle. Reward will be riches.”

“This request is permissible,” the grand bishop said. “We will now begin the ritual.”

The grand bishop raised his cane, and a dreadful squelching sound came from the portal behind. The beast entourage took a step back in recoil, and the black bear looked shaken to the core.

A moment later, an unholy abomination appeared from the portal with a squelch. It was black as night, amoebous and shimmering, an eldritch creature that looked like it had come straight out of a nightmare.

The creature advanced forward, leaving a trail of black ooze behind it, and slowly began to engulf the carriages that the Lion’s entourage had brought with it. Screams were heard from within the carriages as the creature swallow everything whole, including the sacrificial slaves inside including several pigfolk.

Their screams were horrible, and the black bear could only cover his ears and wait.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the creature finished its consumption of the offerings, leaving nothing but black ooze behind.

A golden glow appeared in front of the grand bishop, showing a golden runic text box that all could read.

A new law has been enacted.

Whoever kills the progenitor of the 174th cycle will be rewarded with riches.