The Purpose of a Tail

With me completely motionless, the cricket suddenly went berserk and charged straight at me.

"Holy shit!"

I let out a startled cry, scrambled to my feet, and ran outside. The moment I left the room, a loud crash rang out behind me!

"Boom!"

When I turned around, the two-story building behind me had already collapsed. The enormous cricket was just standing there, still looking

at me. It was about two or three meters

tall—in short, much taller than me. Its huge head was right in front of me.

It stared at me without moving.

MMP.

I pulled out a coin, slowly raised my hand, and aimed at its head. Then I unleashed a surge of electricity and flicked the coin!

"Boom!"

A streak of flame lit up the night, then vanished into the distance. The enormous cricket in front of me had lost its head,

and a half-meter-wide hole had opened right through the center of its body.

"Whew~"

I let out a helpless sigh, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag.

"Heh. A mere cricket dares to challenge me."

I'd heard that grilled crickets tasted pretty good, but I really couldn't stomach insects right now, so I let the idea go.

I looked at the sky. It was already dark. I raised my hand and glanced at my watch.

Ten o'clock.

I'd slept for quite a while.

Strange. My body usually only needed a few hours of sleep each day. Why had I slept for more than ten hours today?

I flicked my tail and shook my head, giving up on a question I had no answer to. Then I turned and headed toward the city. At this pace,

I'd probably reach the city center in about an hour.

The farther I went into the city,