“It’s barely a bite. More than that, this damn mutt seems to be tough because it’s so skinny. Or is it because its personality is rotten?”

The drunken man grumbled, tossing the clothing pin he was picking at onto the ground.

The girl approached the pin that had fallen, staring blankly, and picked it up.

She compared the ragged flower soaked by the rain to the one attached to her clothes.

There was no way she could have misseen it.

Even upon another look, it was the same ornament that had been on Myang’s necklace.

And gradually, the things around the girl began to come into focus.

Small bone fragments piled up next to the spot where the drunken man was sitting.

Bloodstains mixed with black fur remained on the ground.

Ah, a sigh escaped the girl’s lips.

The happiness that had filled her heart vanished without a trace, leaving a hollow sensation.

Emptiness.

As warmth disappeared, the blood in her body cooled down.

The void brought forth a terrible hunger, and the girl screamed at the unprecedented hunger she was feeling.

“A… Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

“Hey, crazy beggar!”

The girl let out a scream-like shout and lunged at the drunken man.

The drunken man seemed momentarily startled, but soon effortlessly subdued her, slamming her down to the floor and trampling her.

“Hey, beggar. Did you eat something wrong? What the hell is this sudden act?”

“T-this bad man!!! Myang…! Myaaaaaaang!!!!!”

“What’s Myang… Wait, ah, hehheh, was that mutt your emergency ration?”

As the subdued girl screamed, the drunken man, glancing at her for a moment, seemed to realize the flower ornament she was tightly holding was the same as the one on her clothes, and he sneered.

“If it was yours, you should have taken care of it better. You should have eaten it before me.”

“Myang isn’t for eating…! It’s my precious Maria…!!!”

“Ugh, family nonsense. I mean, fits the bill, doesn’t it? With such a rotten personality. That damn mutt. I was feeling bad about losing my bet and was kicking some trash nearby to vent my anger when it suddenly popped out of nowhere, barking like crazy and trying to bite me. So I gave it a few kicks, and it died. I needed a snack, so I roasted it, but had I known it was yours, I would’ve left a piece for you, you know.”

“Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!”

As the drunken man chuckled, the girl struggled in rage.

The drunken man struck her once with a smack, then looked at her with bloodshot eyes, mumbling dismissively.

“Why, are you angry? Don’t get too worked up over this. You’ll eventually realize that such things are natural in this world.”

Natural? Is this normal?

When the girl glared at the drunken man at those words, he burst out laughing.

“Survival of the fittest, survival of the fittest. That’s how the world runs.”

Survival of the fittest; the weak are consumed by the strong.

The drunken man grabbed the girl’s throat and brought his face close to hers, shouting as if to explain this principle.

“Why did that damn mutt get eaten by me? Because it was weaker. Why are you being beaten by me right now? Because you are weaker. Do you understand? The weak must accept that the strong can do whatever they want! So the reason I, a knight, ended up stuck in this hellhole because I got involved with some noble is all because of that! Damn! What’s so wrong about spending some money to gamble? I could’ve paid it back!”

The drunken man shouted in frustration.

A city aptly named the ‘City of Losers,’ where the weak congregate after being defeated by the strong.

Even within this city, the strong and the weak are differentiated.

And the once knightly drunken man was a strong persona in this city.

He had to justify that he ended up like this due to lacking strength, so he had been robbing the weaker ones according to the principle of survival of the fittest.

Money, food, and even lives.

And now he was saying it was all natural.

“Natural…?”

Hearing the drunken man’s words, the girl muttered as if in disbelief.

Is it permissible for the strong to do whatever they like to the weak just because they are strong?

How hard-earned was the happiness she and Myang had grasped, yet he casually took it away, trampled it, and considered it natural?

Who the hell are you?

What right do you have?

“Ah…”

The girl couldn’t accept that at all.

But no matter what the girl did, Myang was already gone.

Having lost warmth, happiness, and family, the girl had nothing left now.

To her, the pain was hunger.

The excruciating anguish that felt like her heart was being torn apart, and the emptiness that felt like her entire body had been hollowed out.

All of it became hunger to her.

The rain falling from the sky turned into her tears.

The hunger was the color of emptiness, and the tears flowing down the girl’s face were dark.

Thus, she endlessly sobbed and murmured.

“I’m hungry…”

The girl was unbearably hungry.

So hungry that she was hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry.

The girl decided to fill this hunger through eating.

Survival of the fittest.

The strong consume the weak.

That was, naturally, the way it is.

“Aaaah?!! My, my nose…!”

And so, all at once.

The girl lunged forward and bit into the drunken man’s nose.

Blood gushed out, and the drunken man screamed.

Of course, the drunken man did not just stand by while the girl suddenly bit him.

“You, damn girl!!!”

The drunken man swung his fist with all his might at the girl’s face.

With a crack, her neck snapped entirely in the opposite direction due to the tremendous force.

Having assumed her neck had completely turned, the drunken man was certain of her death.

However,

“HI, Hiiiii?!”

Crack, crack.

As her neck let out a sound, it slowly turned back to its original position.

The drunken man was stunned by this bizarre phenomenon and instinctively reached out his fist toward the girl.

The girl, receiving the punch to the face, bled profusely while grabbing the drunken man’s right arm.

And then, she chomped down hard.

“Urghhh!!!”

Humans, surprisingly, are quite sturdy.

Of course, if you try to eat someone whole, your teeth would break, and your jaw would likely get dislocated.

Crunch, crunch.

“Ughh! This, this monster!”

Yet the girl continued to devour the drunken man’s arm, completely disregarding how messy her mouth was.

Pulling out broken teeth, reattaching her dislocated jaw.

She chewed through the man’s skin, muscle, and bones with a crunch, crunch.

The pain in the process meant nothing.

After all, the girl was already suffering from an insatiable hunger.

“P-please! I’ll apologize…!! Ughhhhhhh!!”

Thus, the left arm followed the right arm.

The screaming continued.

“Ah, aah…”

Next came the left leg and then the right leg.

Meanwhile, the ongoing screams finally ceased.

A little later, the only remnants of the drunken man left in the alley were piles of red blood coating the ground.

“……”

Having completely consumed the drunken man, the girl stood there dazed for a moment before picking up the ragged flower ornament that had fallen to the ground.

She gazed at the ornament briefly before thinking.

It was strange.

She had eaten until she felt like bursting, yet the hunger did not fade.

Was it because Myang was gone?

Looking up at the sky.

Perhaps because Myang was gone, the sky and clouds didn’t look beautiful at all.

Myang, where are you? Myang.

Don’t leave me alone.

Stay with me.

The girl searched through the ground, munching on what was likely the bone fragments left by Myang.

Not satisfied with that, she swallowed the ragged flower ornament that Myang used to wear.

But still.

“I’m hungry…”

Nothing filled the emptiness.

This terrible hunger wouldn’t stop.

“I’m hungry…”

If she’s hungry, the only way to solve it is by eating.

So the girl wandered in search of food.

Naturally, her steps led her to the restaurant where it was easiest to find scraps in the food waste bin.

“I’m hungry…”

Murmuring, the girl opened the trash can and buried her head inside.

Then she started eating whatever was inside without discrimination.

But strange.

Her belly wasn’t filling at all.

So she kept muttering hungry, hungry, emptying the trash can entirely.

Someone grabbed her by the back of the neck and lifted her up.

“…You dirty beggar. You’re still alive.”

It was the restaurant owner.

“Alright, let’s settle this today. You’ll pay for this with your life.”

The restaurant owner mumbled as he pulled out a club from somewhere.

And with a thwack, he struck the girl.

“……”

The girl, hit by the club, bled black tears and looked straight at the restaurant owner.

“What, what… this girl’s eyes…”

The restaurant owner gasped in horror at the sight of the girl standing firm despite being hit with the club.

Well, good.

She was already so hungry.

Crunch, crunch.

Gulp.

“In this dark alley, where the restaurant is located….”

Amidst the pools of blood, the girl thought.

It was strange.

Even after eating this much, she was still hungry.

“I’m hungry.”

She was still hungry.

She needed food.

“I’m hungry.”

Hungry, hungry.

Where’s the food?

Ah, now that she thought about it, there was no need to worry.

“There’s plenty of food out there.”

So much is still left outside.

The girl turned her body towards the alley entrance.

Without noticing, her vision had already darkened into the color of hunger.

264 – Chapter Title Redacted

Thus, in a small town located on the fringes of the continent,

a calamity that would devour seven-tenths of the world was born.