D.N.A.

  Sacrifice was o save more humans.

  It was always like that. You could call it a sacrifice for the greater good, but wasn't sacrifiething you choose for yourself? It shouldn't be forced onto others.

  So, what they really meant was... survival of the fittest.

  "READY YOUR ONS!!"

  The ringleader raised his hand, signaling the troops to hold their position. The soldiers, fully armored and t like three-meter-tall androids, stood motionless, surrounded by various high-tech military vehicles.

  A hundred meters ahead, a man shrouded in a swirling bck mist, like ink spreading in water, came to a halt. The air around him thied with smoke while a ruined building spewed water from its windows. Once h steadily, flying cars plummeted from the sky, their shattered forms igniting into frenzied fmes.

  For a long moment, there was silence... until the ringleader raised his bde.

  Those in power often trample over the rights of the weak. Those who ck strength would be subjugated.

  "FI—!!"

  A hand shot out before the and could be pleted and gripped his face. The palm of the shadowy figure engulfed the ringleader's head entirely. He was already standing before the soldiers in the blink of an eye.

  A dark mist swirled violently around their point of tact.

  Such hypocritical behavior from humankind.

  The ringleader was caught in the grip. He struggled, but it was futile. His body was lifted into the air, and his once mighty sword cttered to the ground.

  Its glow faded, extinguished.

  "Phmmm...!!"

  But I also learned about human personalities.

  "CAP... CAPTAIN!!"

  The soldiers stiffened.

  Their fingers hovered over triggers, grips tightening around their ons, but none dared to move against the shadow before them. All frozen. Their wide eyes seemed to uand—they should never have been here. They shouldn't have frohe figure in front of them. They should have evacuated, like everyone else.

  They khe vast differen power.

  I learned about the human world.

  The ringleader's efforts to break free were abruptly halted as the shadowy figure's grip tightened. Blood began to seep from the seams of his suit, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and disbelief. Slowly, a thick, red goo oozed from them.

  "U-Upp...!! Khmmm!! AAGHH!!!"

  I became human.

  Splintered. Shattered. These were all that remained of the ringleader's body, destroyed against the backdrop of devastation. The soldiers who wit could only wat horror as their resolve crumbled, with the illusion that they were safe in numbers.

  I couldn't universally apply ive statements about humans; it was vital to sider each situation's diverse texts and circumstances.

  "ALL, OPEN FIRE!!!"

  The shout shattered the silence, snapping the soldiers out of their stunned revere the ringleader's dispy. A surge e surged through them. Click. Ctter. ons were raised in unison. A storm of pulse energy, bullets, beams, and rays cut through the air, verging on a siarget.

  I felt disgusted.

  Of course... it was all for nothing.

  Every attack pierced his body as if the man himself didn't eve—yet he still stood there, unmoving. He was there, fag them. "Them," who tio operate the massive maes individually.

  Yet, I was also fused.

  Despite the gunfire and explosions, the figure raised his hand toward the sky. The sky, now encased in a sphere of void, swirled with dark mist above him. With a single snap of his fingers, the sphere detonated, sending a shockwave that surged across the battlefield like a tidal wave.

  In the chaos, vehicles were tossed aside and overturned. Robots short-circuited, colpsing in a heap. Soldiers were hurled through the air as if nothing more than ragdolls. The earth cracked beh the immense force, and what remained of the surrounding buildings crumbled into dust.

  "AAAHHHHGG!!"

  No matter how hard you try to save, protect, or prevent humans from making mistakes, they iably suffer.

  There was no doubt that this horrific se was being broadcast to people all over the world, captured by the drohat tio hover, even after the previous one was destroyed by the man's devastating impact.

  "He is sughtering those soldiers..."

  Because humans weren't desigo be happy.

  World leaders vened for emergency sessions in hidden rooms. The weight of their decisio heavier than ever before. Analysts and academics offered live entary, drawing clusions from drone footage and speg on the mysterious being's ins and motives.

  Yet, no one seemed to truly uand.

  The reason y in the fleeting nature of happiness itself.

  Rarity gave it value. When it became easily attais value diminished, eventually being meaningless. Thus, it was impossible to halt the cycle of suffering; happiness was only reserved for a fortunate few.

  As the shadowy figure advahe drones tiheir relentless pursuit, capturing every detail of this looming threat. When night fell, he paused, his head turning as if aware of the world's watchful gaze. It seemed he might speak for a brief moment—perhaps to address the lingering question that hung in the air: Why?

  Why were we created for, then?

  But no words came.

  The answer was too obvious.

  He turned and tinued on his path.

  With each step, a street pole crumbled. With each step, a pseudo-knife sliced through the houses oher side. With each step, the screams of those fleeing for safety tore at their throats as blood spilled onto the ground. One by ohe ss that dispyed his figure flickered a dark. Disected. Go was a silent signal: the man had obliterated the area.

  We were simply a drama created by beings superior to us to observe.

  For that reason, I dismahis stage py.

  In the vacuum of information, theories emerged. Was that man the result of a forbidden experiment gone awry? Ay from another dimension? Or perhaps a maion of nature's wrath?

  You could say I made a biased decision, a selfish one, or whatever you want to . Those wouldn't ge anything.

  I'd made my decision.

  I would bring salvation to you all.

  I, myself, didn't know why I had to withis, to see ahis horror, to see how hopeless and helpless humans were.

  However, I khat man was—

  After all, I already knew, I just—

  "A monster."