Tokyo, October 16, 2045 — 03:47 AM
Ren Takatou hadn't slept for the past 32 hours.
He sat on the floor of his dark bedroom, surrounded by dozens of books on quantum physics, molecular biology, and astrophysics he had borrowed from the city library. Books that would normally take PhD students years to understand—he absorbed in minutes thanks to his Omniscience Ability.
But knowledge wasn't what he was looking for tonight.
He was trying to understand the transformation happening inside his body after yesterday's battle with an Axiom Collective organism. Absolute Adaptive wasn't just an ability to adjust to threats—it was something far more fundamental.
Ren raised his hand, staring at his palm. To an ordinary eye, it looked normal. But with Omniscience, he could see that every cell in his body had undergone a radical change. His DNA now contained genetic sequences that didn't exist in any human genome. The protein structures in his muscles had evolved to produce strength beyond the physical limits of normal humans.
And most astonishing of all—his central nervous system had developed new neural pathways that allowed him to process information at speeds approaching a quantum computer.
I'm not fully human anymore, Ren thought, his emotions tangled. But is that really a bad thing?
His phone vibrated. A message from Yuki.
Yuki-chan [03:48]: Ren-kun, are you okay? You looked really pale this morning. And why didn't you show up for the last class yesterday?
Ren stared at the screen. After the incident in the basement, he hadn't been able to focus on normal lessons. His mind was filled with strategies, calculations, and preparations for the invasion that would arrive in 13 days.
He typed back: I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache.
Yuki-chan [03:49]: You're still awake at this hour? Don't keep staying up, Ren-kun. Your health matters.
Health. Ren almost laughed. With Absolute Adaptive, concepts like sickness or exhaustion no longer applied to him. His body would automatically adapt to any condition to maintain optimal performance.
Ren [03:50]: I'll sleep soon. You should sleep too.
Yuki-chan [03:51]: I can't sleep. I don't know why… but I have this strange feeling… like something bad is going to happen.
Ren flinched as he read it. Yuki had sharp intuition, but there was no way she could sense the Axiom Collective threat.
Unless—
Ren immediately activated Omniscience and scanned the entire city of Tokyo, searching for the same energy anomalies he had found in the school basement yesterday.
And he found them.
Not one or two locations.
But hundreds.
Axiom Collective parasitic organisms had spread into nearly every district in Tokyo. They were moving far faster than Ren's initial predictions. Even worse—some had already begun to evolve, developing more advanced capabilities.
Ren [03:53]: Yuki-chan, where are you right now?
Yuki-chan [03:53]: At home. Why?
Ren [03:54]: Don't go outside today. No matter what happens, don't leave your house.
Yuki-chan [03:54]: Huh? Why? Ren-kun, you're scaring me…
Ren didn't reply.
He rose from the floor and prepared to leave. Tonight, he had to do something he'd never done before.
Hunt.
Shibuya — 04:15 AM
The streets that were usually crowded now looked empty and oppressive. Only the occasional sanitation worker or night-shift employee hurried home. But Ren knew that beneath the surface of normal life, an invasion was silently unfolding.
He stood atop an office building, looking down at a small park in the middle of the district. With Omniscience, he could see the entire area was infested with Axiom Collective organisms.
Not just the Cleaner Type-7 Subspecies he had encountered at school, but far more dangerous variants.
Hunter Type-3 Subspecies—designed specifically to identify and eliminate individuals with supernatural abilities or anomalous genetics.
Mimic Type-12 Subspecies—capable of taking the form and memories of creatures it killed. Used for infiltration and intelligence gathering.
And the most horrifying of all:
Nexus Type-1 Subspecies. A command unit coordinating operations within a region. Connected directly to the Axiom Collective mothership.
Ren jumped from the rooftop.
His evolved body allowed him to survive a free fall from fifteen stories without injury. He landed softly in the middle of the park, directly at the point of highest organism concentration.
The reaction was immediate.
The grass around his feet turned a dark purple-black. The trees groaned with an unnatural metallic screech. And from the soil, formations began to rise—like enormous mushrooms, except they moved with coordination no plant should possess.
[ANOMALOUS SUBJECT DETECTED. ELIMINATION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]
The voice appeared directly inside Ren's mind—but this time, not from a single source.
It came from hundreds of organisms at once.
A collective telepathic harmony—horrifying in its precision.
[ANALYZING ABILITY… THREAT LEVEL: ABSOLUTE. REQUESTING IMMEDIATE BACKUP FROM AXIOM COLLECTIVE FLEET.]
"Too late," Ren said calmly. "You've already given me too much information."
He closed his eyes and activated Omniscience at maximum output.
In an instant, he gained perfect understanding of the molecular structure, behavioral patterns, and weaknesses of every organism in the area. More than that—he gained partial access to the data being transmitted to the Axiom Collective mothership.
Mothership location: 47,000 kilometers above Earth, hidden behind artificial satellites.
Invasive force count: 12.7 million organism units spread across the planet.
Main attack timeline: 12 days remaining.
And most importantly—
He learned the fundamental weakness of Axiom Collective technology.
The assault began.
Dozens of massive fungal formations launched toward Ren at incredible speed. Each one carried bio-energy weapons capable of destroying a military tank in a single shot.
But Ren didn't dodge.
Instead, he activated Absolute Adaptive.
The transformation happened in a fraction of a second.
His skin hardened into an organic armor that reflected energy attacks. His circulatory system restructured itself, allowing movement so fast it became nearly invisible. And most astonishing of all—his body began producing a counter-frequency capable of disrupting the organisms' telepathic communication.
Ren moved.
In less than three seconds, he was already inside the enemy formation.
His evolved hands pierced their structures like a hot blade through butter. Every touch triggered chemical reactions that shattered the aliens' molecular bonds.
[IMPOSSIBLE… ADAPTATION EXCEEDS PARAMETERS… REQUESTING EMERGENCY EVACUATION…]
But it was too late.
Ren identified the Nexus Type-1 command unit hiding underground.
With a single strike, he slammed the surface with force equivalent to a small explosion. The earth cracked open, revealing a complex organic structure the size of a small car.
The Axiom Collective command unit.
It tried to escape, carving tunnels at high speed.
But Ren had anticipated it.
He leapt into the opening and pursued it through a labyrinth of underground passages.
The hunt lasted ten minutes.
The Nexus unit used every tactic available—bio-energy traps, holographic illusions, decoys.
But every strategy it used, Ren adapted instantly and found the counter.
Finally, in a wide underground chamber, Ren cornered it.
[NEGOTIATION,] the voice sounded desperate in his mind.
[AXIOM COLLECTIVE CAN OFFER COOPERATION. ANOMALOUS SUBJECT MAY JOIN US.]
"Cooperation?" Ren laughed coldly. "After you planned genocide against the entire human race?"
[HUMANS ARE A PRIMITIVE SPECIES. THEY POSSESS NO STRATEGIC VALUE TO AXIOM COLLECTIVE. BUT ANOMALOUS SUBJECT IS DIFFERENT. YOUR ABILITY CAN PROVIDE IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION TO GALACTIC EVOLUTION.]
Ren paused.
In his mind, he saw a vision of what they offered—technology beyond human comprehension. Access to thousands of conquered worlds. The ability to travel the galaxy and witness unimaginable lifeforms.
Then he remembered Yuki's worried face.
He remembered his classmates, unaware of the threat looming above them.
He remembered billions of humans living peacefully, not knowing extinction was only days away.
"No," Ren said firmly. "I'm human. And I will protect my species."
[FOOLISH DECISION. SUBJECT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE SCALE OF AXIOM COLLECTIVE POWER. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.]
"Maybe," Ren stepped closer. "But I'll try anyway."
He extended his hand and touched the Nexus organism.
The moment contact occurred—something unexpected happened.
Absolute Adaptive didn't just make Ren immune.
It evolved again.
He began to assimilate abilities and knowledge from anything he touched.
In an instant, the entire Axiom Collective database stored inside the Nexus unit flooded into Ren's mind—technology, command structures, base locations, and most importantly—
Their exploitable weaknesses.
The Nexus organism let out a sound like a muffled scream, then slowly crumbled into dust.
Ren stood in the underground chamber, his body trembling under the overload of information. In mere minutes, he had gained knowledge equivalent to years of high-level alien research.
And now, he knew exactly what he had to do.
Back on the surface, Ren saw the park—once filled with alien organisms—was now clean. With the command unit destroyed, the entire cell in that area had automatically shut down.
But he knew this was only one of hundreds spread across Tokyo.
His phone vibrated again. Another message from Yuki.
Yuki-chan [05:23]: Ren-kun, I saw something weird on the internet. People are saying there was a small explosion in Shibuya tonight. Are you okay?
Ren looked around.
His fight had left damage that would be hard to explain: a massive crater in the center of the park, trees toppled in unnatural patterns, and traces that looked like energy burns.
Ren [05:24]: I'm fine. And you—remember what I said earlier. Don't leave your house today.
Yuki-chan [05:25]: Ren-kun, you're making me worry. What's going on?
Ren stared at the screen.
A part of him wanted to tell Yuki everything—the invasion, his abilities, the burden he carried.
But another part of him knew the truth would only make her suffer.
Ren [05:26]: Just trust me. I'll explain everything later.
Yuki-chan [05:27]: Okay… but promise me, if anything happens, you'll tell me.
Ren [05:28]: I promise.
But deep down, Ren knew it was a promise he might not be able to keep.
He left the park and walked through the empty streets of Shibuya. The Nexus unit's data still churned in his mind.
He now understood the Axiom Collective perfectly.
And he knew that to defeat them, he would need to do something no species in galactic history had ever done.
He needed to evolve.
Not just physically or mentally—
But evolve into something beyond biological limitations.
Something capable of challenging a civilization that had conquered thousands of star systems.
Something that might no longer be called human.
As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, Ren Takatou walked toward his home with steady steps.
In his hands, he carried knowledge that could change humanity's fate.
In his heart, he carried a resolve that would never break.
The war against the Axiom Collective had just entered its second phase.
And Ren was ready to become humanity's final weapon.