The Hot Pervert God

I yanked the fist out of my gut and raised Mook high overhead.

The mantis's head had dropped to about eye level. One clean downward smash would kill it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. My hand holding Mook fell away.

(9/10)

I needed the last one for the hidden condition. That thing would have to be the one.

"Kieee...!!!!"

"Your head's too high."

I couldn't kill this one, but I could still beat the shit out of it.

I gripped Mook with both hands and swung.

KWA-AAAK!!

PUH-UUK!!!!!

The second blow to its abdomen dropped the mantis's head even lower—low enough that it looked ready to snatch up Yu Eunseol, who was still sitting on the floor.

"What are you waiting for? Kill it."

"......"

"Kinda disappointing if you can't even finish what I hand you."

"This is no time to mess around! Hurry...!"

I ignored the man I assumed was Choi Junseok—Baek Sihyeon's best friend—and turned away without finishing the mantis.

They were already desperate to kill each other anyway. No need for me to do the work.

Ta-da-dat—

Jaeyeol shot between me and Yu Eunseol, dropping low and sliding straight under the mantis's jaw.

"I was faster—"

Jaeyeol got there first.

But the one that actually punched through the mantis's skull was Suho's spear.

PU-UUK!!!

Suho drove the tip through the eye that sat almost on the side of its head, then flashed a victory grin at the scowling Jaeyeol.

"I don't need to aim for weak points like you do~"

"Hyung..!!"

Jaeyeol was stacking Agility and had the Acceleration skill, so he had the speed edge.

Suho was stacking Strength and had a thrusting skill, so he had the raw power edge.

Strength versus speed.

Those two were chasing completely different kinds of strength. They were going to make excellent friendly rivals for each other going forward.

Anyway, this situation was pure shit.

"Uwaaaah!!!"

"Help me!!!"

"Kkeuaaaah!!!"

"Aaaah!!!!"

A few people were holding their own, but most of them couldn't even react to the ants and mantises.

The insects were still weak. If people just stayed calm they wouldn't be getting wrecked like this.

But the real problem wasn't the people getting attacked by bugs.

That was the real problem.

Ta-da-da-da-dang!!!

Ta-da-da-dang!!!

Ta-dang! Tang-tang!!

Ta-da-da-da-dang!!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The soldiers' bullets were dropping plenty of zombies, sure.

They were also drawing every zombie in earshot straight to us with that racket.

That had to stop first.

I could deal with the insects somehow. The flood of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombies pouring in? No solution for that.

"People are—!"

I grabbed Baek Sihyeon's shoulder before he could charge off.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Let go! People are in danger—"

"Worry about yourself first."

I yanked him back by the shoulder and shoved him behind me.

Killing the mantis hadn't ended anything.

"The ants' weak points are the joints. Stop wasting hits and aim for those."

"Kkieeeeeee!!!!!!"

"Ah..."

He could handle one ant at least. From the way he'd fought the mantis, his stats were solid enough.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

"Hyung, what about the people?"

"We'll save as many as we can."

Saving people right this second wasn't our job.

"Kkieee!!!"

"Ah....."

"What are you doing?! Run!!"

"Ah...!! Th-thank—"

"I said run!!!"

"Ugh!!"

The idiot was still sitting on the floor trying to thank us, so Jaemin finally just kicked him in the shoulder.

While that was happening Mingoo took on the ant that was screeching with an arrow stuck in it, and Gihun and Younghoon went after the mantis that was butchering the most people.

"Kieeeeee!!!!!"

"Younghoon! Cut the arm!!!"

"Yes!!"

Jesus, that brute.

Even with gauntlets on, he just blocked a mantis foreleg the size of a giant scythe with his bare hands.

"This way!!"

"Move faster!!!"

"Seonye! Jeongyeon! Suppress them!!"

"Yes!!"

"Stay back!!"

The women who'd just come down were already fighting an ant while yelling at the panicking crowd.

My people would handle the civilians.

Time to shut up the guns.

I grabbed a shoulder. The muzzle swung toward me and I smashed it down with Mook.

Tak!!

"Kang Juhan..?"

Anyone watching would think these guys were the protagonists.

Soldiers who never even got names in the webtoon kept showing up this often?

"Captain Son Gijun, stop shooting."

"What are you talking about?! If we stop firing the zombies will—"

"Shooting just brings more of them. We came in an hour ago."

"C-cease fire!! Fix bayonets and support!!"

Fast on the uptake.

The fact that we'd walked into the department store an hour ago and were still alive meant we knew how to survive. Son Gijun got it immediately, ordered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ceasefire, and fell in behind me as I ran for the main entrance.

Puk!! Pubuk!! Puk-puk!!!

Puk! Pu-uk!!

He wasn't just a gun guy after all.

Not quite Suho or Jaeyeol level, but at least Gihun or Mingoo tier.

"What do we do now?!"

"First we block the entrance with zombie corpses."

"That won't hold for long!"

"Long enough."

"What do you mean—!"

"Jaemin, oil!!"

"Nari!!"

"Catch!"

Zombies' weaknesses were water and fire.

They couldn't swim, so water was an absolute hard counter. And just like how Elder Choi made us look like walking fireballs when he moved through hordes, zombies instinctively avoided flames.

Fire wasn't an absolute weakness the way water was, of course.

Once enough turning points had passed and they got stronger, or if a commander was giving orders, they'd charge straight into the flames without hesitation.

None of those conditions applied right now.

"Hyung!!"

"Douse it!"

Jaemin ran up with a plastic jerrycan, dumped oil all over the pile of corpses choking the entrance, and lit it.

Hwa-reu-reuk!!!!!

The roaring wall of fire made the zombies outside scream and stop cold. Finally we had a little breathing room.

"We're taking everyone up to the third floor."

"Is the third floor safe?"

"There's a safe spot. Won't stop zombies, though."

"Understood. Clear the monsters, then move to the third floor!!"

Everyone moved to pull people out from under the insects.

We were moving for the quest, of course, not out of pure charity like the soldiers.

Ttu-duk!!!!

Seogeok!!

Jaeyeol and I each snapped and severed one of the two left-side legs keeping the mantis upright.

Younghoon, who'd been hanging onto its flank, immediately lowered one shoulder and charged.

"Charge!!"

You don't have to shout the skill name, dumbass.

After he'd cleaned up the gangsters and pulled a skill from a random box, Younghoon launched himself into the mantis's right side. With two legs gone on the left, the whole body tipped and crashed down.

Finishing blow was Gihun's.

"Barrage."

This guy too, huh.

Peo-beo-beo-beo-beok!!!!!

A rapid-fire barrage of punches far beyond what Gihun's Agility should allow hammered the downed mantis's temple.

Exactly five hits and the head exploded, green fluid pouring out as it died on the spot.

"That's three for me!"

"I'm done."

While Gihun still had three left, Suho yanked his spear free from an ant's skull a short distance away—quest complete.

"I'm finished too!"

Jaeyeol was done as well.

"Then let's feed the rest to Mingoo first."

"Let's go!!"

"Why Mingoo again?!"

"Hyung's blatant favoritism!!"

"U-uwaaaaaah!!!!!"

"What the hell is that?!!"

"Run!!!!"

Just as things were settling, fresh screams tore through the air.

Everyone else looked stunned. I was smiling.

Finally. The one I'd been waiting for.

"Kueeeeeeeek!!!!!"

"Holy shit!!"

"Everyone down!!!!"

"No! Don't fire—"

Too late.

Soldiers who'd already raised their muzzles were pulling triggers.

Ta-da-da-da-dang!!!!

Ta-da-da-dang!!!

Ta-da-da-da-dang!!!

Ta-da-da-dang!!!

Didn't matter.

Even if more zombies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠came, the still-roaring fire would just cook them and reinforce the barricade.

I just hated wasting the bullets.

Ti-ding! Ting-ting-ting!!

Puk! Pu-uk!!

Ti-di-ding!! Ting-ting!!

There's a saying.

Among insects, beetles are GOAT.

No matter how strong another bug is, you can't crack a beetle's defense.

That kind of overwhelming armor—a jet-black beetle standing nearly as tall as my 183 cm—was charging us.

The low, broad body that defined beetles.

"Kueeeeeeeek!!!!!"

Bigger than five grown men standing side by side, the beetle shrugged off most of the bullets and kept coming. The waist-high ants got crushed under its legs like toys, bursting one after another.

"Eyes and abdomen! Everywhere else is too hard—bullets are useless!!"

That guy again.

The bespectacled man who'd told Baek Sihyeon's group about the mantis's weak point under the jaw was now shouting the beetle's weak points.

The sixth member of the original protagonist party I didn't know about.

"Juhan!"

"Hyung!"

Quest first.

If I filled the last slot with this thing, the hidden condition should clear.

"Tell them to stop shooting. If it loses an eye it gets even more vicious."

"Cease fire!!!!"

No more guns.

Bullets were precious, a stray shot into an eye might shatter the frosted glass walls and let zombies pour in, and most importantly we wouldn't be able to attack it ourselves.

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Wait! You can't beat it head-on!!!"

I ignored the glasses guy and charged the beetle while laying out the plan.

"If those pincer horns hit you or grab you, you're done. You two circle behind and hit the ass. It's softer back there."

"What about you?"

"Frontal assault's my specialty."

"Be careful!"

"What about me?!"

"You go kill ants with the kids!"

Gihun's Strength plus the gauntlets put his attack power at the top of the current food chain.

Still not enough, and too dangerous.

This monster bounced bullets and could kill you with a graze.

Kka-aaang!!!!!!!

Uu-uu-uu-uung!!!!!!!!!

Whoa. That hard?

I tested a pincer with one hit.

Not even a scratch, and the ten-plus-kilo steel rod was still vibrating hard enough to make my hands tingle.

"Kueeeee!!!!!"

It felt like an impregnable fortress, but I stayed right in front of it, tapping the pincers to keep its attention.

That way Suho and Jaeyeol could safely work the rear.

"Eyes front, asshole!"

When it started turning because the back bothered it, I lunged and smashed Mook down.

Kka-aang!!!!!!

A hit near the eye made it whip its head back toward me instead of finishing the turn.

Huu-uu-uung!!!!!!!!

The thick pincer, lined with sharp spines on the inside, carved the air with a vicious whoosh.

A graze meant death, so I dropped so low my body almost scraped the floor and slipped under it.

And there they were.

Compared to that tank of a body, the legs were ridiculously thin.

Huu-uung!!!!

Kka-ang!!!!!

The legs were still hard.

But unlike the body that didn't even flinch, the shell cracked a little and the leg got shoved sideways.

Should I just break every leg?

Nah. Let's go hot.

That seemed to be what it wanted.

Ta-at—

Kwa-ang!!!!

The second I threw myself sideways, a pincer slammed into the spot I'd just left and shattered the solid floor.

Was that on purpose?

Hwa-ak!!!

Hwik!! Hwiik!! Hwik!!!

When it wrenched the embedded pincer free, chunks of broken floor came flying at me at insane speed.

Hwik— hwik— paa-ak!!!!

I dodged two and pulverized the third with a swing of Mook.

Then I locked eyes with it.

Through the threateningly open pincers, the beetle's face.

I lifted my gaze a little higher and saw a faint red glow on the broad crown of its head.

The mark of a critical strike.

Alright then.

Stat Amplification.

Strength all the way up to 19.

I clenched Mook with everything I had and shouted.

"Draw its eyes!!"

"Kueeeeeee!!!!!!!"

Instant reaction.

The beetle reared its head, roared, and spun its whole body to swing a pincer behind it.

Which meant its ass was now facing me.

Ta-at!!!

I kicked off the floor, sprinted, and vaulted onto the beetle's rear.

Two steps, then a third leap that sent me dropping straight between the still-closing pincers while its head was raised.

Kwa-aaak!!!

I brought Mook down with every ounce of power in both hands.

Kka-aa-aa-aa-aang!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over ten kilos of steel, Strength at 19, plus a critical strike.

The result was inevitable.

Ppa-ji-jik!!!!!

Shell shattered.

And the space between the twin pincers was wide enough that they couldn't even grab me.

"Kueeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!"

Sensing real danger, the beetle shook its head like an enraged bull and suddenly started running—straight for the entrance where the fire was starting to die down.

Normally I'd have slid right off that slick carapace, but I jammed my hand into the cracked shell and held on for dear life.

Then I raised the long Mook high and drove it down again.

Kwak!!! Kwak!!! Kwak!!!! Kwak!!!!!!

Fuck, seriously..!!

Just break already!!!!

If this thing makes it outside—

"Kueeeeeee!!!!!!!"

"Hyung!!!"

"Juhan!!!"

"Oppa!!!"

"Kang Juhan!!!!"

"......"

Ah. I was being an idiot.

I stared down at my left hand still jammed into the cracked shell and let out a small sigh.

Then I raised Mook high again and smashed it straight at my own left hand—pulling the hand free just before impact.

Pu-uu-uu-uuk!!!!!!!!!!!

Mook sank deep into the hole my hand had just left. I grabbed the embedded rod and dangled from the still-running beetle.

Until it finally stopped moving.

Ku-uu-uu-uung!!!!!

Deu-eu-eu-eu-euk!!!!!!!!!!

Ah.... kind of an anticlimactic finish.

But the goal was achieved.

Huh??

This....

Isn't this a little too hot, Pervert God?! Puhahahahaha!!!!