The Mandatory Match: A Guide to Dating the Inhuman

"In the Lower City, if you want to keep breathing, you learn to tear down whatever is blocking your path. I was just a scrapper. Then the App matched me with a nightmare." Arthur knows things. He knows which wire to jump to hotwire a generator, how much force it takes to snap a rusty steel bolt, and how to bribe a corrupt guard with the contents of a trash bin. He has spent his entire life mastering the hard, practical common sense needed to survive the grease and grime of the industrial slums. He knows everything it takes to stay alive. He just doesn't know dating. He’s never so much as held a woman’s hand. But the mysterious, unremovable app that appeared on his cracked smartphone didn't care about his preferences. It demanded a mandatory match. The Rules of the Date are Simple: Attendance is Mandatory: Arrive at the designated coordinates on time. Survival is Conditional: Your match is not human. It is hungry, ancient, and lethal. Refusal is Terminal: If you skip the date, your blood freezes solid in your veins instantly. Matched with entities that defy common sense, Arthur is forced into a series of lethal encounters. But the "Matchmaking" system made one fatal mistake: It trapped a professional dismantler in a confined space with a complex biological machine. Armed with nothing but industrial scrap and a cynical will to live, Arthur isn't courting his matches. He’s treating his dates like deconstructed machinery—breaking them down, piece by bloody piece.