The Furless Beast.

The grotesque rat-man narrowed his eyes against the brightness, but the exact fraction of a second a high-pitched screech tore from the depths of his throat, he lunged straight at the skeleton.
With claws caked in filth, he shattered Bone-ko-chan’s ribcage in a single dynamic heartbeat.
Utilizing the brief few seconds of tactical delay my loyal servant had successfully secured, I managed to map out the exact profile of the threat and barked a sharp directive.
“Mia, do not let it close the distance!”
Answering my warning, the familiar sound of snapping fingers echoed through the shaft. There was zero hesitation, and zero seconds wasted asking for clarification. Based on our past encounter with the Shadow, she had comprehensively mastered the mechanics of immediate fire support.
She unleashed two consecutive fireballs.
The thermal flash illuminated the rat-man’s vacant, glassy eyes, mirroring the incoming projectiles—
The next dynamic fraction of a second, the monster masterfully contorted its frame to cleanly evade the first <Fire Bullet>.
“No way!” Mia cried.
Right as it spun its body to dodge the second projectile, an arrow silently buried itself straight into the rat-man’s thigh. The kinetic shock threw its mobility vectors into a temporary stall, and the second mass of flame slammed squarely into its shoulder, causing a spectacular backdraft of sparks to erupt across its frame.
The rat-man’s features twisted into a grotesque grimace as a feral, vicious shriek spilled from its jaws.
However, the agonizing cry cut off in a split second.
Before anyone could even register the mechanical transition, a second arrow had already pierced clean through the rat-man’s solar plexus. It was an exceptionally swift, silent feat of archery—as if the shaft had been anchored there from the very beginning.
Despite its shoulder being heavily scorched and a critical vital point thoroughly pierced, the monster managed to drag its frame forward a few more steps. But that calculation clearly reached its absolute failure threshold; its knees suddenly buckled, and it collapsed heavily onto the earth.
We waited a few seconds for the remaining embers to burn out, leaving nothing behind but a completely motionless carcass. I had the re-summoned Bone-ko-chan poke the remains with a stick to verify its status, and the exact fraction of a second I confirmed zero hostile response, I finally allowed my shoulders to relax.
“Phew… that was an incredibly close loop. Thank you for the flawless cover, Ethan-san. You did a magnificent job too, Mia.”
“Man, that completely blindsided me…” Mia gasped, catching her breath.
“What on earth is the true nature of this entity? It isn’t a human being, is it?…” Paula murmured, inspecting the remains.
“Yeah. It’s a textbook demi-human anomaly,” I explained.
The layout of the carcass—its torso and limbs—was an exact structural match for a human being. However, the cataclysmic contradiction of anchoring a pure animal head onto those shoulders aggressively triggered a wave of intense physiological revulsion. The fact that the massive rat features were rendered with such hyper-realistic detail only added fuel to the fire.
“It belongs to the taxonomic category widely classified as Lycanthropes. Specifically, this specimen is a Wererat.”
In ancient logs, they were occasionally cataloged as “rat-men.” The family also featured famous entities like Werewolves, Weretigers, and Werebears. However, contrary to the standard lore found in popular fantasy novels or games, achieving a flawless human transformation was entirely outside their parameters; their cognitive capacity was exceptionally low, and they lacked the data loops to comprehend human speech entirely. Well, given that their head is purely that of a rodent, I suppose their intellect scales accordingly. Furthermore, because their habitat is strictly restricted to the depths of subterranean dungeons, they remain a largely undocumented monster demographic.
“What a comprehensively sinister creature, My Lord,” Paula noted.
“The computational threshold to cast <Subjugation> on it is entirely within my parameters, but actually bringing it along in our roster is a bit of a stretch.”
Granted, its utility metrics weren’t terrible, but the entity was completely stark naked and leaving its entire frame exposed to the elements. Even if its physical mass only approximated a ten-year-old child, navigating a dungeon with a naked rat-man isn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.
“For the time being, let’s catalog its primary performance data. First constraint: its velocity parameter is exceptionally high.”
“Oh, absolutely!” Mia chimed in, nodding vigorously in agreement—undoubtedly still processing the shock of seeing her signature <Fire Bullet> cleanly evaded for the first time in her career.
“On the flip side, its raw physical strength shouldn’t be a major issue. However, there is a single, cataclysmic problem we must calculate: its claws—”
Crouching down beside the carcass, I grasped the Wererat’s wrist and lifted its appendage into the light. Because its lifestyle loop relied on burrowing through the subterranean strata, the tips of its claws were heavily caked in ancient filth.
“If those appendages scratch your skin, your system will instantly be compromised by a high-grade viral infection. Moving forward, let’s enforce a strict tactical directive to avoid close-quarters engagement entirely.”
“Your orders are fully registered, My Lord,” Paula answered smoothly.
Even back in the original game data, its signature <Claw Scratch> maneuver was an exceptionally tedious problem to calculate due to the added poison ticks it inflicted on a party’s health pool.
“Furthermore, it possesses a core racial trait shared by all Lycanthropes: its natural regeneration capability is remarkably potent. While its physical lacerations mend with exceptional velocity, its internal systems can also systematically neutralize paralytic toxins in a matter of seconds…”
This time, Ethan-san offered a silent nod of agreement. The image of the monster continuing its forward advance despite a paralytic arrow being buried deep in its thigh was undoubtedly lingering in his mind.
“To compensate for those parameters, because its physical architecture mirrors a standard human frame, its anatomical weak points are practically identical to ours. Additionally, its physical defense parameter—or rather, its baseline resilience—is completely paper-thin.”
I mean, to state the obvious, the creature is entirely buck-naked, after all.
While I was handling its arm, I ran a casual harvesting cycle on the remains. The exact fraction of a second the processing loop concluded, the only item that materialized in my inventory log was a single Red Magic Stone. I suppose that makes sense, given that Lycanthropes are ultimately classified under the beast taxonomy. Zero additional components registered, meaning our raw loot yield from the kill was incredibly sparse.
“Wait… does that mean this little guy is completely devoid of any worthwhile drop efficiency?” Mia asked, her shoulders slumping.
“No, while you can’t harvest high-tier materials from its physical frame, an entity of this species always…”
Scanning the immediate perimeter, I successfully located my intended target: a small structural alcove tucked away at the absolute rear of the dead-end corridor. Stepping closer to inspect the coordinates, I found a chaotic, tangled heap of miscellaneous items piled high against the stone.
“They possess an ingrained behavioral pattern that drives them to compulsively hoard random items like this. Granted, the vast majority of the payload is total garbage.”
Extending my hand, I ran a sweeping collection loop across the pile and opened my inventory interface to audit the contents.
“Oh, look at that—Iron Ore. This is an excellent yield. And we managed to secure a minor deposit of Silver Ore as well.”
“Whoa, seriously?! Look at you go, Rat-chi!” Mia cheered.
“And… wait, what’s this?…”
My focus was suddenly pulled toward a specific slot nesting in the far corner of my item log.