After the company he works for, Asahi Industries, made a deal and entered into a partnership with another transportation company in Thailand, Rokuro Okajima was one of the many Asahi Industries workers who was transferred to Roanapur City as part of this new partnership.

Although a bit unhappy with his sudden transfer, he was pleased to be made a supervising manager, mainly because of his ability to speak the city's local language, Thai.

However, although only a week had passed since then, Rokuro quickly discovered that Roanapur was a crime-ridden place, having been the victim of an armed robbery, as well as other workers and the pressures of local mafias at the newly installed Asahi Industries workstation.

This, coupled with the costs of renting an apartment in the city, which were far from cheap, led to Rokuro's decision to resign from his position as chief supervisor and request a transfer back to Japan.

Unfortunately, his superiors in Japan tell him that, due to the rules made by the new association, he and any other worker must stay at least six months before the transfer is made, in order to get more available personnel and not to delay the new projects.

With no other option but to continue with his work, while waiting for the required time to expire, Rokuro decides to keep a low profile in the city, avoiding interacting with people outside of his coworkers in order not to get involved in dangerous matters due to the high level of crime in the city.

On one of his many nights, as was sometimes normal, Rokuro left his company after a long day's work. It was a clear night with a bright full moon in the sky.

He was tired and anxious to get to his apartment and rest.

He made his way to the parking lot where his vehicle was parked, a black sedan provided by the company as a perk for being a supervising boss, and then got into the vehicle and set off for his apartment.

As he drove down the street, he noticed that there were very few people walking on the sidewalk. The city of Roanapur, while quite active during the day, was quiet at night, which Rokuro liked. That was perhaps the only good thing about the city; the quiet at night.

However, his tranquility was shattered when suddenly a large animal crossed his path. Although he slammed his feet on the brakes of the vehicle, leaving wheel marks on the pavement, it was too late and he failed to stop, hitting the creature head on.

The car finally stopped, and Rokuro took a few seconds to recover from the shock before getting out of the vehicle and seeing what had hit him. The front of the vehicle was crushed, even though he was not driving at high speed, the hood was caved in and the windshield was cracked from the impact.

Despite the situation, he regretted the damage to the vehicle, as it belonged to the company and he would have to pay the repair costs.

His thoughts about that were interrupted, however, when the creature, which he mistook for a large dog, stood up... on its two hind legs.

Rokuro stared at the creature, transfixed. The image of an animal walking on two legs was completely strange and disturbing to him. For a moment, he wondered if he was having some sort of hallucination. But the creature was there, twitching as if to shake off the shock of the blow.

That thing surpassed him in height, it was also more corpulent, noting the powerful muscles of its arms and hind legs. Its body was completely covered in thick light brown fur... and its head was similar to that of a dog or a wolf.

Suddenly, the creature let out a growl, which caused Rokuro to startle and back up a few steps. The creature lunged towards him, but Rokuro managed to narrowly dodge it and run towards the car, but when he opened the door to get inside...

"That's when he bit you.". -Said Oshino, interrupting his story.

Oshino was a strange man who found him when he was going through a really difficult time with his...problem. Oshino had introduced himself as a paranormal investigator, a bridge between the spirit world and the physical world, he also claimed to be an expert in eccentricities, though Rokuno had no idea what that meant...

Also, he had called himself a globe-trotting wanderer.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a bite...". -Rokuro replied, getting a chill at the memory of that moment. "He gave me a beating I'll never forget."

The claws and fangs of that beast, which he now knew to be a werewolf, had cut and ripped through his clothes and flesh with ease, with deep wounds that went all the way to the bone. The beast's strength was enough for it to lift him off the ground and shake him like a rag.

The whole attack lasted only a few seconds, and when he was nothing more than a piece of meat, with his arms and legs twisted at strange angles, the werewolf left. Rokuro remained lying on the ground next to his vehicle, unable to move, feeling his eyes grow heavier, until he finally lost consciousness.

"I woke up near dawn.". -Rokuro said. "The sun had not yet risen, but the sky was already clearing... and all my wounds were healed. If it hadn't been for my shredded clothes, as well as the vehicle, and the fact that I was in the middle of the street, I would have thought it was a dream."

Oshino looked at him silently for a few seconds, then sighed. "The popular belief is that the werewolf's bite is what turns you into one, but, in reality, it is their saliva, although I don't know why it is because of this. You, being bitten and scratched during your violent attack, were, shall we say, bathed in saliva."

"...That's disgusting."

"Maybe so, but that's what saved your life. If the werewolf had chosen to slit your throat, or crush your head with its arms, you would be a corpse right now and not a living person carrying a werewolf's curse." -Oshino replied, with a crooked smile. "Tell me, Okajima-san, during your time in the city, did you get into a fight with anyone, or have any problems, beyond the robbery incident you had?"

Rock shook his head in denial. "No, not at all. The robbery happened at a stoplight, and I think it was just dealing with a drug addict. My co-workers are the same ones I was with in Japan, and, although I'm not really friends with everyone, I haven't had any fights or disputes with them before."

"So the attack was random, huh?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I also don't know if this is true or just some of people's popular belief, but, supposedly, werewolves still retain some of their humanity, their memories and feelings for people. So, if this werewolf had been some co-worker you were on bad terms with, or someone you've had a fight with recently, this could be justification for your attack."

"Well, nothing of the sort has happened."

"Yeah... it sounds to me like the werewolf was just pissed at you for hitting him."

Rock looked down at the floor, inexplicably embarrassed. "It wasn't on purpose, it was an accident."

"Don't worry, I don't judge people for their actions, I hold them responsible for their consequences. And in this case, you're not responsible for anything, since that eccentricity was the one that crossed your path on your way home." -Oshino snorted. "If you're responsible for anything, it's your bad luck. I mean, who hits a werewolf, in the middle of an island in Thailand, only to be attacked by it? It's something so out of the ordinary that it borders on the absurd."

"What you say relieves me a little, but it also makes me angry."

"And that's the reason I specialize in the paranormal and eccentricities. Humans are too easy to piss off, did something good happen to them?" -Rock gave him an expressionless look. "Anyway, now that I know what your first contact with that eccentricity was like, tell me about the next four days from then, until you found me."

"Okay..."

While listening attentively to the story of his client, Okajima Rokuro, Oshino nodded from time to time and asked some details in the middle of the story, trying not to interrupt unnecessarily.

Rokuro kept the fact of being attacked by a werewolf hidden, something perfectly normal, as he was afraid of being treated as crazy and made fun of, so he only mentioned that he had a traffic accident to avoid going to work the day after the attack.

The company accepted that excuse and gave him the day off...although they did mention that he would have to pay for the repair of the vehicle.

Once Rokuro arrived at his apartment, feeling ashamed to walk around with his clothes completely torn and stained with blood, the first thing he did was to take a shower to clean himself and inspect his wounds. But, once again, he confirmed that there was not a single scratch or scar.

After this, he slept for the whole day.

The second day after the attack was normal, the only thing different, perhaps, was the unusual appetite he had. The same was true for much of the third day, i.e., complete normalcy.

The problems began on the evening of the second day, when he awoke in the middle of the night, feeling severe cramps in his legs, arms and practically all over his body, causing him to writhe in his bed in painful spasms.

These cramps lasted all night, sometimes they were short, but some were also very long lasting a few minutes, which prevented Rokuro from resting that night, and he broke his bed due to his sudden movements.

On the third day, he woke up with a sore body and no strength to get up. The only thing that forced him to do so was his voracious hunger, which caused his food reserves to run out quickly. This led him to have to dress and buy more food... which also ran out easily.

The afternoon was normal, but due to his exhaustion and sore body, he had to come up with another excuse for missing work. His company accepted his excuses, as he was excused due to the traffic accident he had. The rest of the afternoon, Rokuro spent at home, trying to rest and struggling to contain his new fierce appetite.

During the night, the cramps returned, getting longer and worse. Now his bones creaked from his erratic movements. Once the cramps had passed for the time being, Rokuro noticed how his muscles had swollen painfully, leaving the veins scarred, and that the hair on his chest, arms and legs had grown quite large.

The next day, though, in the morning, all these effects disappeared.

"That cramping is due to the effects of the werewolf's curse.". -Commented Oshino, stroking his chin. "The muscle cramps and that your bones would have creaked, along with the accelerated hair growth, are the clear indication that the metamorphosis has begun, gaining a partial transformation from your werewolf state."

"At the time I thought it was something like rabies that you get from dogs." -admitted his client "On the morning of the fourth day, I went to a hospital for a blood test."

"And what did they find?"

"Absolutely nothing. They told me I was a young, healthy man, and not to bother with stupid things again."

"Oh, that sounds like a nice hospital."

In his morbid way, Oshino had to admit that it was fascinating to watch someone affected by the curse in the process of becoming that bestial eccentricity. The vast majority of those affected could not stand the physical change...supposedly at least, because there was no documented record, only pure speculation.

Torn skin, muscles and tendons, as well as bones, nails and teeth that expanded and grew...it was not a physical change that human beings were designed to endure, much less in such an abrupt and sudden manner.

Other people, due to the werewolf's natural aggressiveness, since it was a wild animal, a beast, went completely insane and were either shot down by the police or ended up in psychiatric hospitals...where they also eventually died from being wrongly administered drugs to treat some supposed mental disorder.

Of course, along with the classic hair-covered body, which was also on the list, were common and repeated symptoms described in stories about werewolves, including in books and movies.

He himself could have mistaken Okajima in one of those partial transformations for a drug addict who overdosed, a crackpot who escaped from a psychiatric hospital, or someone who ate a mushroom that made him delirious.

The latter case was quite common, especially in Roanapur, a nest of criminals of all kinds.

But, Oshino did not know if it was good or bad luck, he came across Okajima in a more advanced stage of his transformation, half naked, with his body in a grotesque form that was halfway between a hairy and deformed man, or a large, malnourished, sparsely furred and deformed dog...

The transformation process was not at all pretty and fast, as it happened in books and movies, it was a slow and very painful process for the affected person. Also traumatic, since the cursed person had no control of their own body during these transformations, they were only able to watch as their body changed completely and they became monsters.

Oshino let out a sigh.

"Lycanthropy?" -He said. "It is a mythological ability or power that a human being has to transform into a wolf, or a fusion of the wolf with the human, leading to the creation of a half-beast man. However, it is also a psychiatric phenomenon, a hallucinogenic disorder, where the patient believes he is capable of transforming into an animal, a wolf or other similar creature."

"Are you insinuating that I'm out of my mind, delusional that I was attacked by a freaking werewolf, and also delusional that I half transformed?" -complained his client, offended.

"Not at all, I just thought it would be a good introduction for this particular case, you know, the prologue for a story.". -Oshino smiled crookedly. "No need to be so defensive, Okajima-san, did something good happen to you?"

Ever since he began his career as a bridge between the spiritual/paranormal several years ago now, Oshino had seen and heard of everything. However, this was the first time he had before him such a curious case as a person attacked by a werewolf.

And being honest with himself, this case was beyond his capabilities.

Not only was his client attacked by an eccentricity that had been around for millennia, and really hard to find, but he was at risk of becoming said eccentricity if a cure was not found to treat it.

In other words, his client, Okajima Rokuro, was going to become a werewolf in a week... of which 4 days had already passed, and in a few hours it would be 5 days, which left them both 48 hours to find a cure that did not exist.

In all of human history, there was no record or method to ensure that anyone affected by a werewolf curse was cured, and their humanity returned.

The closest thing there was, was an ancient legend-belief, that silver was an effective tool against werewolves, as the eccentricity was vulnerable to silver. Which derived in the belief that werewolves can be killed using silver bullets, and, as Oshino had proven many times before, the Faith of mankind could achieve really incredible things all over the world, so this belief became a truth, although exaggerated due to the culture of cinema and literature.

But real, after all.

However, silver, silver bullets, would not serve as a cure for Okajima... unless he was seeking death. That should be the last of the last resorts, of which Oshino did not want to resort if possible.

But neither could he allow two werewolves to be loose in the city, affecting more people with their curse.

Oshino put a cigarette in his mouth, without lighting it, and scratched his head. 'This is going to be complicated.' -He thought, not letting his expression give away his worries.

It was important to maintain his self-confidence, as this also influenced the mood of the client in question. If he let Okajima lose confidence and, worse, hope, then it would all be over before it began.

"Okay, Okajima-san, it's already late and I don't think you like walking around town half-crazy and half-naked, right? So spend the rest of the night here, I think I have one or two things that might help you so that the effects of your partial transformation are reduced."

"I don't want to be a bother..."

"No, no, not at all. When I found you I could have played dumb and let your matter go, but I decided to get involved because I think I'm capable of helping you, so there's no problem." -Said Oshino, with a crooked smile. "I'll take care of you until this is resolved."

After all, it was his responsibility that Okajima, or anyone else, for that eccentricity's attack could have acid on anyone, had to bear the werewolf's curse.

He had come to Roanapur to capture, or eliminate, that werewolf... which had already attacked and killed several people in other cities. But because he didn't know the city of Roanapur very well, and it was dangerous because of its high crime rate, Oshino had been delayed in his work.

This caused Okajima Rokuro to be attacked and cursed for his eccentricity.

And since it was his fault, Oshino was going to be everything in his power to break the beast's curse and find a cure ... even if it didn't exist.

"You've got a lot of interesting stuff around here.". -Rokuro murmured, looking at the pile of books, small notebooks and even encyclopedias of... strange things.

On the covers of each of those books, there were illustrative pictures, quite detailed, about demons, animals, beings that seemed to be taken out of a fantasy, or even nightmares. Oshino didn't look like a typical scholar even though, from the conversation they had earlier, he knew quite a bit about the paranormal.

Either that, or he was just a particularly weird geek he encountered in Roanapur.

Now Rokuro was wearing clothes similar to Oshino's, or rather, the clothes that belonged to Oshino, because his were damaged during his last transformation. He wasn't a fan of Hawaiian shirts, he missed his office shirt and tie, but he couldn't complain given his current situation.

Besides, it was better than being semi-naked.

"The vast majority of them are just pure lies.". -Said Oshino, absentmindedly flipping through one of those thick books, not even bothering to read properly, just flipping through pages as if he had already read that same book before, and that was probably the case. "Fantasies written by very boring, or superstitious people. However, when you get into this kind of work like mine, sooner rather than later you discover that, even if a story is false, it can become real because of people's beliefs."

"You mean ghosts and demons, apart from the werewolf, actually exist?"

"Of course, in fact, those beings are just the tip of the iceberg. I don't want to go into details so as not to bore you, and because talking about it often attracts that sort of thing, but there are supernatural beings much weirder and worse than ghosts, demons and werewolves." -Oshino had his back turned, focusing on consulting his book, but Rokuro could feel the guy's crooked smile. "Much worse and dangerous."

"...The mothman.". -Rokuro said.

"Real."

"Vampires."

"Are you kidding? Tip of the iceberg."

""Goblins?"

Oshino clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Those nasty little bastards."

"...Are you kidding me?"

"Maybe."

Rokuro rolled his eyes, but decided to leave the provocations aside and, instead, took one of the books with a strange cover and then sat on the floor of the old and dirty abandoned apartment that Oshino used as a guard somewhere in Roanapur... of which Rokuro didn't know how he got there.

He had partially transformed inside his apartment, but, when he awoke he found himself in front of Oshino's lair and Oshino offered his help.

"What is the origin of the werewolf?". -Rokuro asked, opening the book and starting to read it. "I mean, who was the first person to be cursed to become that beast?"

"Like all eccentricities and supernatural beings, the werewolf has a vast history and origins, so much so, that it is impossible to know which is the real one and which is the fake one, let alone which was the first case in history." -Responded Oshino, without looking away from his book. "For example, in Greek mythology, the God Zeus cursed a king and his offspring, they being the first werewolves in history. In other cultures, if you kill a dozen wolves and make necklaces, or a cape, and run the fields during the full moon, howling and naked, this will turn you into a werewolf."

"...Neither seems very believable."

"Really? To me the Greek version is cooler and makes more sense than killing a dozen innocent animals." -Oshino snorted with amusement. "Besides, the only thing you get from running naked in a field at night is catching a cold."

However, despite the amusing example, if there were so many stories and myths about the creature that attacked him, that meant finding a cure for his curse, a real one, was drastically reduced. "Tell me, Oshino, what are the odds of finding a cure in these books?"

"You should rest." -Advised Oshino, suddenly changing the subject. Unlike before, he now used a slightly more serious tone. "Refusing to sleep won't prevent the transformations from happening, it will only weaken you further and put your life at risk. In fact, it's surprising that you're still quite healthy after almost 5 days, most don't take it so well."

"In what way?"

"They die."

"...I don't know if I should feel happy about that or not."

"As long as you still want to live, then that's reason to be happy." -Oshino replied. "In any case, you should rest."

However, though he appreciated the concern, Rokuro nevertheless continued to skim the book carefully so as not to tear it. "If we both search, then it is possible to find the cure to my curse faster."

Oshino closed his book, he had read it in record time, and picked up another of equal size and thickness. "As I said, most of these books are pure lies and fictional stories, but if reading them makes you feel better, then go ahead. And as for what we're looking for, it's about any kind of information related to lycanthropy, or directly to werewolves."

"Okay, I'll let you know if I find anything interesting."

Oshino didn't respond this time, just continued his reading silently, so Rokuro decided to do the same.

Fortunately, during the entire night of werewolf research, his client, Okajima, had not undergone another of his partial transformations. This was because Oshino expended on him five of his precious seals of containment, which he normally reserved for temples charged with negative energy, or exorcisms, that required strong and immediate purification.

But...these five seals were destroyed in the process.

Oshino was shocked by this fact, as they were quite powerful and difficult to obtain. Still, he thought this was also normal, considering that the werewolf was an eccentricity, a spirit of wild fury and aggression, millennia old that took physical form, or possessed humans, to have a body of flesh and blood.

After all, it was even mentioned that, in some cultures, it was a God, or a divine punishment, that originated the curse of the werewolf.

Still, though it pained him to have expended so many resources, Oshino was satisfied. Although his scrolls, which in theory should be permanent, were destroyed, they were able to contain the curse temporarily and Okajima was able to sleep for a night without suffering the effects of his curse.

Right now, Okajima, having given up after 3 hours of reading books, was sleeping in a corner of the old apartment that Oshino used as a temporary lair. Oshino had found him, or Rokuro had found him, in the middle of the night of the 4th day. After hours of talking, discussing his case and researching for a possible cure, the 5th day had arrived, specifically, noon.

Time was advancing rapidly, and Oshino had found absolutely nothing about a cure. Only scattered fragments among the myths and legends of the werewolf, which vaguely mentioned some methods to become one, or how to combat/fend off the eccentricity, but nothing that indicated there was a way to break the curse.

Although Oshino was already expecting something like this, it was a bit discouraging.

However, after discarding many useless or unworkable items and rituals during the long night and much of the morning, Oshino found a number of interesting "ingredients". Separately they were perhaps ineffective, but if he combined them into a single, unique ritual to bring out the full potential of these ingredients... it was possible to manufacture a cure.

"The problem..." -Murmured Oshino, thinking aloud. Although he was used to going sleepless nights, it had been a while since he last gave those books and encyclopedias of the supernatural a once-over, so he was a bit tired. "It's just that they won't be at all easy to obtain."

Silver, enough to form a necklace, a ring, or anything that could be worn on the body would be expensive to get, let alone give it such a shape. But that was only the least of the evils, the other "ingredients" were the blood and fur of the werewolf that bit Okajima.

If they could obtain its fangs or claws, then it would increase the effectiveness of the ritual and the potential cure for the werewolf's curse.

But there were too many problems to implement this idea. Mainly, it was just Oshino's theory. The ritual could go well, terribly wrong, or not at all. Secondly... he and Okajima would have to find the werewolf, which had not reappeared since the attack on their client.

Which made sense, since the full moon at its peak had passed and was now in a waning stage until it reached the waning moon, which drastically reduced the chances of the werewolf that attacked Okajima reappearing. And if he did, then they would have to search for him all over the city of Roanapur, which wasn't exactly small and safe to travel through.

But even if, in the most optimistic way possible, they could find the werewolf... How on earth could they get his blood, fur, fangs and claws? Eccentricity would rip them to shreds on sight.

Maybe Okajima, being affected by the curse, was stronger and tougher than a human. But Oshino was just a normal human, and he doubted he would be as lucky not to die in that eccentricity's attack.

Oshino took another look at his client, who was still snoring with his mouth open.

"Facing a dangerous eccentricity that could kill me, then combining elements into a ritual that I don't even know if it would work... or allowing you to transform into a werewolf entirely and possibly end up attacking innocent people." -Murmured Oshino, with a crooked grin. "What a complicated character you are, Rokuro Okajima, did something good happen to you?"

And that's all for now. Thanks for reading, did you like it, didn't you like it? Leave your opinion if you feel like it, because that will lead me to improve in the future, or sit in a corner to cry.