You ever watch the world end in silence?
No screams. No sirens. No announcements. Just… quiet. The kind that wraps around your bones and refuses to let go.
I didn't see the Fall coming. None of us did. One day, the sky flickered like a broken screen, and reality buckled. Beasts—from the insects crawling in the soil to the elephants hidden in jungles—began to twist, shift, change. They weren't ours anymore.
But something else happened that day. A window appeared in front of my eyes. No explanation. No context.
[You have awakened the Beast Tamer System.]
[Welcome, Rai.]
And just like that, I wasn't just a survivor.
I was something new.
My name's Rai. Twenty-one. Used to be a mechanic, back before engines stopped obeying logic and birds started hunting people down in flocks. Back when I thought my loyal mutt, Smoke, was just a stray with a bad leg and a sharper nose than most.
Now?
He's not even a dog anymore. He's a smoke hound.
His fur is charcoal-black and slick like ink. He breathes in silence and exhales mist that seems alive, curling through the air with a mind of its own. His eyes glow with a dull, eerie red, like embers trapped behind fog. Still loyal. Still mine.
But he's… more. Altered. Like the rest of the world. Only he didn't turn on me.
He stood by me.
Even when the Fall came.
We were holed up in the ruins of an old parking garage on the outskirts of what used to be downtown. Steel and concrete skeletons stretched like broken fingers toward a bruised sky.
Smoke padded beside me, silent as always. Mist drifted from his mouth with every breath, wrapping around my boots as we moved. He was tense. I could feel it in the way his ears flicked, how his muscles coiled like springs under his skin.
We weren't alone here.
[Passive Beast Sense Activated.]
[Danger-Class Entity Detected: Altered Grizzly – Lv. 9]
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
Smoke growled low.
It was one of the system's perks. I didn't ask how it worked. I'd long since given up trying to understand the logic of a world that had turned inside-out. The system gave me skills, stats, levels—and I took whatever it offered.
[Your Level: 2]
[Beast Companion: Smoke – Lv. 3]
[Taming Slots: 1/3]
Still too low. Especially against something like that.
The Altered weren't just mutated beasts. They'd gone savage. No trace of humanity—or sanity. They moved with instinct sharpened into hunger. Kill first. Eat second. Think never.
And this one was too close.
It came from the shadows of the stairwell, its massive form crashing through the crumbling concrete with a roar that rattled my teeth.
A bear, once. Now? A nightmare.
Its fur was patchy, revealing thick, armored skin underneath. Its arms were longer than they should be, claws dragging behind it like sickles. Its eyes were milky white, but it saw me just fine.
"Smoke—!"
Too late.
The beast charged.
Smoke surged forward in a blur, the mist around him thickening into a cloud. He disappeared into the haze, a wraith among shadows. The bear roared again, swinging wildly. Concrete cracked. Metal shrieked.
I backed up fast, pulling the short spear I'd scavenged from a military corpse a week ago. Not great. Barely balanced. But better than bare hands.
The mist shifted—then Smoke exploded from it, jaws latching onto the Altered's hind leg. His teeth sank deep. The bear bellowed, spinning in fury, trying to shake him off. It smashed a paw down, catching Smoke mid-dodge.
Smoke hit the ground hard, yelping.
My heart skipped.
[Smoke – HP: 34/65]
He got back up. Limping. Still growling.
Damn it. We weren't strong enough for this.
But the system didn't care about fairness.
I stepped forward, grip tight on the spear. My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to breathe steady.
"Smoke, distract!" I shouted.
The command was instinctual. One of the system commands. My voice carried weight—some unseen authority granted by the bond between us.
Smoke growled in answer, then darted to the left, kicking up another burst of thick smoke.
I ran.
Not away—forward.
The bear swiped, but the haze messed with its vision. I ducked under its arm and plunged the spear into its side. It didn't go deep—just enough to piss it off.
It turned on me instantly.
I barely threw myself back before its claws tore through the space I'd been in.
Smoke was already moving again, his mouth open wide. From his jaws, a tendril of shadowy smoke erupted and wrapped around the bear's leg, slowing it.
That was new.
[Skill Unlocked: Smoke Snare]
[Beast Skill: Smoke Snare – Temporarily binds enemy movement using condensed mist. Duration: 3 seconds.]
Three seconds. That was enough.
I charged again. The spear wasn't meant for piercing armor, but I jammed it into the same wound, twisting hard. Blood sprayed.
The bear shrieked.
Smoke leapt—straight for its throat.
This time, he didn't miss.
It collapsed in a heap of ruined flesh and smoke.
I stood there, panting, heart hammering against my ribs.
[You have slain Altered Grizzly – Lv. 9]
[EXP Gained: 180]
[Level Up!]
[Rai – Lv. 2 → Lv. 3]
[Smoke – Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]
[New Taming Slot Unlocked.]
[Skill Gained: Beast Insight – View detailed information of nearby beasts.]
I sank to my knees, letting the spear clatter to the floor. Smoke padded up to me, fur slick with blood and fog.
I looked into his glowing eyes and felt that old, aching warmth again.
He was still my dog. Somewhere under all the monstrous upgrades and smoke tricks, he remembered me.
Before the Fall, he was just a stray I fed scraps to behind the garage.
Now he was a predator among monsters.
And still mine.
We rested in the aftermath, half-curled in the shadow of broken pillars.
The city around us groaned and shifted, like it was still dying.
But then—
[New Beast Detected Nearby: Unknown Class – ???]
[Danger Level: Unknown]
Smoke's head shot up. He growled low.
I stood, adrenaline spiking all over again.
The mist rolled in.
From the far end of the garage, something stepped through it.
Its eyes were wrong. Its body didn't match any animal I'd seen—parts insect, parts mammal, parts something else entirely.
But it wasn't charging.
It was staring at me.
[Beast Taming Opportunity Detected.]
[Would you like to attempt Tame? Y/N]
What?
Why wasn't it attacking?
Smoke bristled beside me, but didn't move.
The beast tilted its head.
And then it did something no Altered ever had before.
It bowed.