Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Humanity's First Monster Kill
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He opened the Purchase Window and bought a powered exoskeleton. But it had no charge, so it couldn't move right away.
'Damn it! Can't you at least charge it up a bit?'
It was something he already knew, of course. He'd prepared for it naturally. He'd stashed supplies for combat a short distance away, including fully charged batteries.
He mounted the battery on the back of the powered exoskeleton and plugged in the charging cable. The powered exoskeleton began to move.
-Kaaah!
The monster still hadn't managed to shake off the powered exoskeleton clinging to it. The robot's gunfire kept pounding its body.
Yuseong picked up his gun again.
He unleashed a barrage of various ammo types in alternation, testing if any special rounds might work particularly well against the monster.
And he found out.
'Nothing particularly weak to any attribute.'
Was reality just different from games, after all? Or was it just this monster's nature?
Still, it wasn't entirely ineffective.
'Freezing rounds. And lightning rounds.'
Both disrupted the monster's movements.
Freezing rounds were nothing new—he'd used them plenty. The lightning rounds made the hit areas twitch unnaturally, as if the electricity was stiffening its muscles.
But ammo with elemental effects still had low damage output. The rounds that inflicted the most damage were the reinforced ones.
-Kieeeek!
The monster thrashed wildly. To kill Yuseong, the human. To survive.
Kwachik! Peok!
Even after losing its sight and spurting blood everywhere, the monster's combat prowess didn't fade easily. Yuseong took heavy damage because of it.
He'd already downed dozens of potion bottles and tossed them aside. He'd swapped powered exoskeletons four times, suffered over a dozen fatal wounds, and had limbs severed multiple times, leaving blood-soaked body parts scattered around.
It looked like a gruesome mass slaughter scene where only the heads and torsos had vanished.
But Yuseong ignored the damage and kept fighting.
Both drenched in blood, heedless of wounds or pain, they just kept trying to cut off each other's breath.
There were no rules or laws here. Just a fierce struggle for survival—kill the other to live.
"Euaaaah!"
-Kyaaaah!
Human and monster. The destroyed and the destroyer. This battle would decide if Earth's history's most brutal and ferocious fight would end here or drag on.
The life-or-death struggle continued for a while.
Taang!
One reinforced round from the robot lodged into the monster's nape, already riddled with countless bullets to the point where it was impossible to tell if it was rifle fire or close-range shotgun blasts.
Biteul!
The monster's body, lunging at Yuseong, staggered.
Kung!
It slammed its head into the ground.
Its state was pitiful. Unlike Yuseong, who had endured with nano machines and healed with potions despite dozens of fatal wounds, the monster had no means of recovery.
Of course, with its exceptional vitality and regeneration, it would recover to normal soon enough.
But not right now.
Even so, Yuseong didn't stop attacking just because it had fallen. He and the robot kept firing.
No soft thoughts like "Isn't that too harsh on an injured foe?" entered Yuseong's mind—not even a speck.
Too harsh? On what? Against whom?
This was the monster that had wiped out humanity. Pity toward it? No matter the situation, Yuseong was confident he'd never feel that.
Beonkk!
Suddenly, the monster's murderous blue eyes flashed toward Yuseong.
'Regenerating already?'
Even without potions like him. What a tenacious bastard. But he wasn't scared off by that.
"What're you glaring at!"
He shouted loudly and fired at the regenerated eye.
Peok!
-Kieeeek!
The monster shook its head after losing its eye again the moment it regenerated. It smashed into the ground, carving out a crater, but it didn't stop.
"Just die already!"
Yuseong screamed desperately, pulling the trigger nonstop.
-Kuwaaaah!
The monster's eerie death cry cut off abruptly.
Kung!
Its head plunged into the crater it had made itself. Its body went still. Yuseong checked the radar. The clear blue signal that had always been there was gone.
The monster was dead.
"Cease fire!"
He stopped the robots that had kept shooting even after the monster's breath stopped. The gunfire cut off, and silence fell over the noisy battlefield.
Yuseong looked at the monster's corpse. It seemed like it would rise any second to tear into his nape. But everything indicated it was dead.
No doubt about it. He'd won against the monster.
"Ha… haha…!"
Laughter leaked out. But oddly, he didn't feel as elated as he'd expected.
'Probably because it hasn't sunk in yet.'
What was a monster? A being that had utterly destroyed humanity's brilliant, overwhelming civilization from that other world—something incomparable.
And he'd taken one down.
No wonder it hadn't sunk in.
'Rest first.'
The moment he thought the battle was over, his strength drained away.
Had this fight been dangerous? He could confidently say it ranked in the top three of all his battles so far.
He climbed out of the powered exoskeleton and leaned against its leg. He downed another potion. Whether old wounds not fully healed or new ones from the monster's final spasm, the bottle mended them all.
His body was fine now, but he still rubbed the areas the monster had torn off, checking himself.
'Grotesque.'
His clothes were rags, useless for warmth, protection, or anything. But compared to the blood covering him, the rags were nothing.
Just looking at the blood loss, he'd have died several times over.
'No wonder the wounds kept making me black out toward the end.'
The blood loss and torn limbs had carried away the nano machines inside him.
If the fight had dragged on with more major injuries, he might have died from nano machine depletion before potions could heal him—losing his life-sustaining ability.
He immediately bought nano machines and injected a fresh dose.
After checking his body, he inspected his gear.
He glanced regretfully at the wrecked powered exoskeleton, then assembled the robots.
'These guys are done for.'
Of the six robots, two had fatal damage. The monster had targeted Yuseong mainly, but the robots had taken hits too.
One had its limbs severed, another was completely crushed and nonfunctional. Without repair skills, even the limbless one was useless.
The remaining four had scratches but no functional issues.
"Stand guard."
He ordered the robots. They spread out, weapons ready, scanning all directions. Confirming that, Yuseong closed his eyes.
'Just a bit of sleep.'
The battle with the monster—fear incarnate—had squeezed his mental and physical energy to the limit. With the fight over, fatigue crashed over him instantly.
Four armed robots, equipped with real-world and Arc weapons alike, could hold off even if another monster appeared until he woke.
Yuseong drifted off. And fell asleep right away.
That day, humanity achieved its first feat since starting the war with monsters: killing one.
* * *
Yuseong looked at the monster's corpse. The persistent bastard that had hounded and attacked him relentlessly.
But even seeing its body stirred no real rage or hatred.
Just a sense of liberation.
He no longer had to just run from monsters. He had the power to fight back.
'Still, I need to get stronger.'
This battle wasn't a total victory for him. He'd nearly died too. And from what he'd heard about monsters as a kid, some were strong, some weak.
'From what I remember, this one definitely wasn't strong.'
Even if weapons worked now, that didn't neutralize a monster's strength.
'I need better weapons from the Arc.'
He couldn't keep relying on Cookingday to make them. Unlikely as it seemed, if their relationship soured, he'd lose his supply.
Even without that, Cookingday had his own life and couldn't keep crafting forever. And commissioning and receiving items took time anyway.
'I have to make them myself.'
That was the moment Yuseong truly prioritized alchemy.
But now wasn't the time to mess with the Arc.
'Finding a new hideout comes first.'
Sure, he could have the robots guard while he crawled into some nearby building to play the game. That's how he'd done it on the escape route.
But that was only for emergencies.
'If none, I'll just build one.'
Blast off the upper parts of nearby structures to prevent monsters from nesting, fortify the underground facilities—that could make a makeshift hideout.
But that was a last resort.
'Let's check here first.'
After poring over the local map until his eyes ached, he'd found a few spots marked as bunkers, though pretty far.
'I heard people built secret bunkers before the world ended.'
Rich folks and power players made them during the war with monsters and beasts, for survival.
Back then, it was unavoidable for staying alive. But to Yuseong, the sole survivor a century later, it just seemed like futile thrashing.
Even if they survived the civilization's fall holed up, they'd die eventually.
'Not like I need to judge their choices.'
They're long gone. He just needed to use their legacy well.
A faint hope some survivors might remain crossed his mind, but he didn't expect much.
Yuseong headed in the direction the map indicated. He slaughtered every beast in his path and bought black bread when hungry.
Black bread was always a satisfying meal, but he missed that other world's food. The fridge smashed in the monster attack, and the food left behind, lingered in his thoughts.
The otherworld travel cooldown had reset, but finding a hideout came first, so he didn't use it.
The first bunker he found was disappointingly ruined. Beasts had entered through gaping holes and claimed it. Unlivable, obviously. The second and third were the same.
Yuseong grew anxious. Beasts were one thing, but another monster meant another deathmatch.
When he reached the fourth spot on the map, Yuseong finally found an intact bunker.