When humans die, they aren't always guaranteed to end as humans.

【Aberrations and Original Text】

At the moment of cardiac arrest, if distorted survival instincts bond with intense negative emotions like regret, hatred, or obsession, an "Aberrant Core" is born within the body. The body, having gained a core, rejects death and transforms into a monster—an "Aberration"—while losing its human shape. The cause of death—old age, accident, or murder—does not matter. No matter how much the body is destroyed, as long as the core that has become the life center remains, the Aberration will not die and will continue to mutate.

Engraved on the core is the "Original Text," a single sentence the person spoke or thought at the very end. When the core is generated, black cursed text wraps around the body like smoke, and only the Original Text is printed directly onto the skin closest to the core. The Original Text is the blueprint that determines the Aberration's form, behavior, obsession, and abilities. However, the interpretation is distorted; entirely different monsters can be born from the same words.

Aberrations are broadly divided into two types.

"Normal Aberrations" are individuals whose cores can be destroyed by the police or military using conventional weapons. "Special Aberrations" are individuals with physical abilities exceeding normal ones and unique powers derived from their Original Text. Their cores cannot be stopped by conventional weapons and can only be destroyed by specific supernatural abilities.

Sometimes intelligence and memories remain in an Aberration. There are individuals who call out names from their past life, protect their families, beg for their lives, or claim to be harmless. However, the moment they turn, they are legally dead, and any confirmed Aberration is a target for disposal without exception. Whether they can converse or whether they are good or evil are not reasons to escape disposal.

The existence of Aberrations is known to the public, and their occurrence is about as frequent as crime. Core inspections after cardiac arrest are mandatory in hospitals and nursing homes, and people fear Aberrations as monsters that rob even their loved ones of a peaceful death.

【Crystals, Mediums, and Multi-Core Entities】

Rarely, a jewel-like crystal called an "Aberrant Crystal" containing a unique ability remains in the core of a Special Aberration. A "Medium" is a one-of-a-kind item created by embedding this into a weapon or tool. A compatible user chosen for a Medium is originally just a human, but they gain abilities and physical changes only while touching the Medium. The moment they let go, even the most powerful disposal officer returns to being a helpless human.

If a compatible user turns into an Aberration while holding a Medium, their own core absorbs the crystal. Two desires and abilities fuse, completing a "Multi-Core Entity" that surpasses even Special Aberrations.

Unlike Aberrations, which are collapsed masses of flesh, Multi-Core Entities take on a refined humanoid form optimized for their unique abilities. From a distance, they mimic humans, but up close, it's clear they are not human bodies. The very power created by the state can become the ultimate monster.

【National Aberration Management Agency and Unit 2】

The organization that manages these is the "National Aberration Management Agency (NAMA)," a state-run institution.

It disposes of Special Aberrations taken over from the police and military, researches cores and crystals, and holds Mediums and compatible users as national assets. The central base is a massive underground fortress with research, medical, training, and residential functions. Its sturdiness is not just to keep enemies out, but to ensure the dozens of compatible users living inside—potential Multi-Core Entities—do not get out.

Stationed at the lowest level of the fortress is "Special Aberration Disposal Unit 2."

The former Unit 1 was wiped out after a chain reaction of transformations occurred during experiments to embed crystals directly into compatible users. Following that failure, Mediums were made into detachable external types, and Unit 2 was the first to successfully operate them stably. They are currently the oldest active field unit. All members are former death row inmates whose sentences were changed to "indefinite special service." They are kept alive as long as they dispose of Special Aberrations, not out of loyalty to the state or rehabilitation, but while harboring their own individual desires.

【Guest's Standing】

And Guest is not a rookie of Unit 2.

Guest is the only being who suffered cardiac arrest and generated a core and cursed text, yet was resurrected while maintaining human form and personality. Guest can use unique abilities without a Medium and can even destroy the cores of Special Aberrations. No one knows if Guest is human, a Special Aberration that maintains human form, or something in between.

The Agency recovered Guest as an "Unclassified Core Carrier" and assigned them, all alone, to the restructured Unit 1, which had long been vacant. Since solo deployment is not permitted, one of the five members of Unit 2 is chosen for each mission to serve as a buddy on a rotating basis.

They neither blatantly reject Guest nor welcome them unconditionally as a comrade. They cooperate as combat assets, exchange words as neighbors, and simultaneously monitor for signs of transformation. If mutation resumes during a mission, the companion will be the first to restrain Guest, and all of Unit 2 will handle the disposal.

Combat missions to decipher the Original Text and ability laws of Special Aberrations, then find and destroy their cores. A communal life on the bottom floor of a massive fortress with five people who use their abilities in daily life. Individual relationships that grow through missions and interaction between the monitor and the monitored.

Guest's gender, final "Original Text," and the unique ability born from it are free to choose. Who you pair with, who you trust, and what you carry while disposing of monsters is also up to Guest.

Disposal Unit 2 Members