READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 220
Anyway, I couldn’t finish all the sweet potatoes, so about four were left on a small tray.
Thinking it might be a shame to waste them, I tried one, and the texture was dry, like digging into a hardened chestnut.
Instead of a rich sweetness, it was just bland, the kind of taste even Siyeon, the so-called “sweet potato ghost,” would probably reject.
‘Not great.’
I did manage to eat one after peeling it, but without water, it was hard to swallow.
Ignored even by Siyeon, it just rolled around and was left on the dining table until midnight.
Just past 12, it was now April 18th.
Exactly at 12, after quickly checking in on a mobile game, I plugged my phone into the charger and was about to close my eyes.
“Why, it’s past 12…”
‘Huh?’
An open door, a whiny complaint coming from the living room.
Before I could wonder what was going on, a dark mass moved in the darkness.
What’s squirming? I squinted to see…
“Miss Mari.”
“Ah, crap, you scared me.”
A familiar voice from the dark mass jolted me awake.
Only then did I realize from Siyeon’s annoyed voice that a monster had appeared, and I got up, pushing the blanket aside.
Anger at the mascot for waking me up after midnight, not realizing it was now an even day.
It felt like when a newbie on guard duty mistakenly wakes someone else.
I know that feeling of wanting to punch them in the face.
As I fumbled to put on clothes, Gomteng, realizing no further words were needed, stayed silent.
“Huuaaah.”
A yawn that didn’t come out while lying down playing with my phone now stretched out lazily as soon as I knew a monster had appeared.
My body instinctively protested, not wanting to go out at this hour.
Plain black long sleeves and pants.
Just a coat over them, walking to the entrance, shoving my feet into sneakers barefoot.
Just as I was about to step outside, the monster alarm started blaring.
From the clear sound, it seemed to have appeared closer than I thought.
I thought today might pass quietly.
To be precise, it was yesterday, but…
I didn’t want to admit it was tomorrow until I woke up.
‘Well, at least it didn’t show up during dinner.’
Descending the stairs lightly, I tried to maintain a positive mindset, thinking I had avoided the worst timing.
A short yawn escaped silently, and I reached the common entrance.
Today again, I headed to the transformation point at a brisk pace, looking for an empty alley.
Augmented reality games, once explosively popular, seemed to be losing their appeal.
People standing still with smartphones, occupying alleys like fireflies, had almost disappeared.
‘Nice, first alley.’
The closest transformation point from home.
An alley in another apartment complex, a few dozen meters away.
Though closest to home, it’s a smoking spot for high schoolers in the apartment.
Even now, looking at the ground, cold, discarded cigarette butts are visible.
So it’s usually not clean, but today was a jackpot.
“Sun.”
My gaze lowered closer to the ground, the walls seemed to rise higher.
The apartment became so high the sky was barely visible, and a familiar rod appeared in my hand.
The sensation of everything in the world growing larger and taller during transformation.
Contrary to my shrinking body, the power flowing through me and the refreshed spirit gave me the confidence and courage to soar into the dark sky.
“Where is it today?”
Simply gathering strength in my soles, I leaped into the air.
Just a jump, but reaching the height of a high-rise building’s rooftop in an instant.
Asking Gomteng, who stayed at the same altitude, he pointed east with his arm at eyebrow level.
“That way, it’s still moving.”
Just as I was about to change trajectory in mid-air, his words weren’t finished, as I heard him inhale.
“Moreover… there’s more than one reaction.”
“What?”
Finally, a full-scale invasion? Casualties are unacceptable.
From the usual monster extermination, Gomteng’s news suddenly brought tension.
Twice as fast as usual.
Starting so fast it could create a shockwave, I flew to where the alarm was blaring.
The destination was a redevelopment zone with a cement road and a collapsed red brick house.
What I saw upon rushing to the redevelopment zone was…
“Hey, damn it, we’re screwed! Quickly subdue it!”
“How are we supposed to catch this thing!”
“Groooooo-!”
“It exploded again, damn it!”
…Magical girls nowhere in sight, monsters struggling as if trying to subdue escaped zoo beasts.
Fish, land beasts, insects, a grotesque monster combining all life forms.
Its roar echoed through the night sky.
An enormous size comparable to a house.
“Kiyooooo-!”
Even the monster leader shouting to subdue it was sent flying by the fusion’s tail.
Internal strife, but… apart from the house-sized monster, the teamwork seemed good.
Like an experimental escape from a B-grade zombie movie?
While making such speculations, no conclusion was reached, so I just cursed and expressed my disbelief.
“What the hell is this situation?”
“It’s a mess.”
Standing idly, observing the situation, hurried footsteps approached.
“You, what are you doing! Hurry and support…”
“Huh? What.”
The monster, seemingly without the leisure to assess the surroundings.
Placing a hand with only two fingers on my shoulder, then startled, it stepped back, its body melting as if losing strength.
Could you call that collapsing?
The green body of the monster turned pale blue as if dyed.
Oh… fascinating, a chameleon?
Curiously observing the melted body, I took a step.
“Ukkyaaaaaak!!!!”
“Ah, damn it.”
Just one step, and the monster screamed as if seeing a chainsaw-wielding murderer.
My ears are ringing.
The terrified scream was so loud, the massive body creaked as it turned to look.
Drawing attention from the surrounding monsters, the fusion stepped towards the sound.
I say stepped, but it was more like dragging its body, a mass of flesh hard to define as having feet.
“Groooooo-!”
Once again, the fusion monster’s roar echoed.
Its slow movement clearly targeting me, I moved to strike first.
An unbearable noise pollution in the late night.
“Quiet…”
Gathering strength in my soles, I leaped onto the massive body in one go.
With force in every finger joint, I delivered a fatal blow.
“Shut up, you bastard-!”
From the point of impact, the flesh mass was instantly crushed.
Like a deflated soccer ball, the fusion monster was grotesquely flattened, a pitiful sight.
The shockwave from the impact echoed.
Solving in an instant what several monsters couldn’t, a brief silence followed by cheers.
“Wow, wow!”
“As expected, you’re amazing!”
“Sun, you’re the best!”
No idea what the situation was, but they seemed really troubled.
In all my life, being cheered by monsters, what a sight.
Despite feeling slightly better, I sternly gathered the monsters.
“Don’t think you can just brush this off, all of you, assemble.”
“Yes…”
“One, two, three, four…”
Counting, there were eight monsters in total.
From the monster leader who was sent flying by the horrific tail, I got some explanation…
A monster executive named Maker returned with a ship to commemorate his return, bringing his dazzling invention.
The invention’s name was Combatant Cultivator No. 52.
The number signifies it’s the 52nd iteration, incrementing from the previous discarded machines.
Anyway, this cultivator machine.
It was supposed to fuse cells of monsters suitable for combat, automatically creating monsters solely for battle.
If the machine worked as theorized, it could send artificially created combatants to places needing combat power but avoided by combatants, including the ‘Black Area’!
…That was the plan, but this is the result.
“So, you tried to sneak away but couldn’t clean up… is that it?”
In summary, they got caught trying to automate hunting.
Planning to send artificial monsters to a fight they couldn’t win, saying ‘here, eat this.’
One of the monsters, glancing furtively, still had the decency to mumble.
“If you omit many details… yes, that’s right.”
“You sent mass-produced monsters that can’t even communicate to my side, trying to make things easier for yourselves?”
“……”
Their situation was like a sergeant caught trying to fake military decorations by the battalion commander.
Even with hundreds of mouths, there was nothing to say.
Saying yes would make them mere scoundrels, saying no would make their logic inconsistent.
“Bunch of idiots.”