"You surprised me, kid. Now I understand the reason for your missing arm..." Jack said, looking at Ryuk's severed left arm.
"Here, you can have it," Jack said as he dipped his hand into his drawer and brought out exactly three bags of coins. A brilliant light flashed through Ryuk's eyes.
These weren't simple 50-star coin bags.
Each bag contained 100 coins, and there were three of them! This was equivalent to almost an entire week's pay for hunting cores.
But just as quickly, the greedy light faded from Ryuk's eyes.
"Add one more bag, and I'll consider it a deal," Ryuk said, looking into Jack's furrowed eyes.
A quick smile settled on Jack's face.
"Then forget the deal. Go do it with someone else," Jack said, dipping his hand into the drawer where he'd kept the core.
Before Jack could secure the core and return it, Ryuk snatched the three bags off the table, turned his back, and headed out while muttering, "Stingy old bastard."
"Tell Old Bob I said hello, bloody mutt!" Jack called out behind him.
Ryuk gave a simple nod and continued on his way.
"And also, remember to tell Old Bob to help patch up your trousers after patching up your arm!" Jack roared with mockery, drawing laughter from everyone in the area.
Only then did Ryuk realize his butt was actually on display for everyone to see.
His face turned bright red as he hurried away from the crowd.
"Fuck!" he cursed, sprinting away with a flushed face and disappearing down the dusty road.
The road was dusty, mixed with patches of what seemed to have once been tarred. But the asphalt had eroded so much it was barely visible, almost as if the entire road had been blown apart.
Rectangular buildings lined the road, made from metallic structures with slits carved into them as windows. Some men sat outside their 'metallic tents,' as Uncle Bob loved to call them, bottles of alcohol in hand.
Others were engaged in fistfights, rolling on the bloodied ground amidst curses and snorts.
This was life in the lowest-grade city of EndEarth.
This was Ryuk's home—the only place he had ever known.
There were barely any kids his age around here, which made sense given the low population of women.
Only men inhabited this Grade-E city, which acted as a kind of prison, and even though Ryuk had seen a couple of women before, they usually don't last long here, choosing to move upside where it was said to be better.
Majority of people here are those who committed heinous crimes in other cities choosing to flee here to avoid capture, and eventually settling down to become scrap hunters.
It was a dull world of smoke, alcohol, and metal—everything a man with nothing left to lose, needed to survive.
How Ryuk had been born here, he had no idea. Uncle Bob rarely talked about the past.
He was a man of few words, he only spoke when necessary.
His favorite saying was:
"A true man should either have something to say or keep quiet."
It wasn't a philosophy Ryuk found particularly inspiring.
As Ryuk walked, the road gradually inclined, as though leading to a hill. The metallic tents grew fewer and fewer. Uncle Bob was a peculiar man, choosing to live far from the main settlement—behind the hill.
Ryuk was already used to the place, walking along the path with ease. The clinking of coins in his pocket served as his music. Unknowingly, he began to hum a tune.
What better music was there than the sound of jingling coins in one's pocket?
Today, Ryuk felt alive.
Despite the danger of fighting E-grade mutant beasts, he had earned enough money to ensure they could have more food on the table than usual.
Uncle Bob would scold him for taking the risk but would also be proud of the young warrior he had raised.
"I need to get home quicker," Ryuk thought, his steps quickening.
However, his face changed drastically as he neared the top of the hill.
There was a burnt smell in the air and out of the corner of his eye, he saw billowing dark flames rising in the direction of his settlement.
There was only one place it could be.
"Uncle Bob..." Ryuk muttered, then sprinted forward like a maddened beast.
The path uphill grew steeper, but Ryuk defied gravity, his body moving with fervor and power. Finally, he reached the summit and looked down.
Where hundreds of metallic tents had once stood, there was now only a vast field of ash. Only a single building remained standing.
His settlement had been destroyed—burned to the ground!
SCREEEEEECCCCCCHHHHHH
An ear-defeating screech sent powerful shockwaves rippling through the area. It boomed out as Ryuk struggled to keep his eyes open amidst the powerful, blowing storm. Quickly, they widened when he barely caught sight of a gigantic dark creature suddenly rising into the air and flashing toward the sky.
Its wings were so big that Ryuk was as tall as only a single feather in the bird's body, showing how truly gargantuan its entire form was.
Its feathers were pitch black, and it radiated a powerful, smoky aura that billowed with strange, flame-like tendrils.
"What the hell is that!?"
Ryuk screamed, shielding himself in shock as he watched the bird disappear.
The last thing imprinted in his mind was the bird's billowing shadowy eyes and the strange runic lines carved into them.
Quickly, however, Ryuk abandoned the thought as he sprinted downward toward the hill, running toward the only building still standing.
As he walked on the ground, the sound of scorching could be heard. His slippers burned through from the intense heat, and even the palms of his legs were seared.
Yet, he wouldn't feel pain at all. It was as though he couldn't even be bothered to pay it any attention.
The closer he advanced toward the singular building still standing, the more tears unknowingly escaped his blue eyes as he passed by many buildings and corpses that had been reduced to ashes.
Ryuk screamed as he arrived in the area and quickly entered the building.
What he failed to take note of was the fact that this building was the only one still standing among the heaps of burned-down structures in the area. Immediately, Ryuk appeared before the door, finding it barely hanging off its hinges.
Without hesitation, he barged in, knocking it down and scurrying deep inside.
Looking around the room, there wasn't much to be seen.
It was a simple space, filled with chairs and a small table, along with some clothes and a bed—at least in Ryuk's imagination, as the entire place had been completely burned down.
"Uncle Bob, where are you?"
Ryuk roared in anger as he scanned the area, finding nothing.
He was just about to sprint outside to continue searching when a voice echoed in his head.
"Look to the ground, Bloody Mutt."