The Monster's Roar Awakens Despair
The main episode evaluation has begun—part 5.
Monster.
The enemy of humanity.
From the cracks, grotesque lifeforms began to emerge, unleashing endless hostility toward humanity.
To the humans of this era, monsters were an indescribable nightmare.
And that nightmare had finally opened its jagged jaws wide at the academy training ground.
“Kiiiiii, kiiiiii.”
“Krrroooo, krrrooo.”
Training Ground Four.
Two monsters had appeared.
Powerful beasts called the Minotaur and the Black-Hand Long-Armed Monkey.
The Minotaur was a colossal monster boasting 2.5 meters of bulk, its body a twisted fusion of cow and human.
Its iron grip could crush steel and its durability could deflect bullets, making it effectively unstoppable by any personal firearm.
And because of injuries, Hong Daeye was not a monster that could be defeated so easily.
But the monsters were not just the Minotaur.
“Kiii, i, iiiii.”
Nearby, a thick-bodied monkey stood with its long arms hanging limply, licking its lips while staring at the students.
That monster, the Black-Hand Long-Armed Monkey, was no monster to be underestimated either.
It was not as threatening as the Minotaur, but if they attacked together, Hong Daeye would be unable to handle them alone.
On top of that, Hong Daeye also had to protect the students behind her.
It was a situation that was disadvantageous in every way.
“……Uh, um.”
That was true, but those monsters looked far more terrifying and ruthless than the ones I had seen in the game and videos.
I had even searched the internet for videos and mentally prepared myself, but why did they look this ruthless?
“I trained hard against giant monsters in middle school… but real life is different, as expected.”
The intimidation I felt now was on a completely different level from the giant monsters I had trained against.
If I had not been prepared at all, I might have been terrified.
Of course, I was still scared right now, but that was the same.
I calmed my mind and looked outside the training ground.
Several monsters had already appeared near the spectator seats and turned the place into a chaotic mess.
There were about ten monsters, but none were as threatening as the Minotaur or the Black-Hand Long-Armed Monkey.
That was why the security officers waiting for an emergency had started fighting them to rescue the students quickly.
Hong Daeye glanced at the situation and said softly, “……I will release the barrier. Run over to the security officers. I will draw the monsters’ attention.”
If it had been Hong Daeye at her peak, sure. But as she was now, she could not handle all those monsters.
Even fully equipped with special gear, she would not last ten seconds without proper equipment.
Still, Hong Daeye had made her decision.
She had been a hero before she was an instructor.
“Releasing the barrier right now… wait, what?”
But.
“Why the hell did it break down exactly now…!”
Hong Daeye had tried operating the remote controller several times, but the protective barrier surrounding the training ground did not disappear.
……Of course there was no reason for it to fail at this moment. It had to be that villain who had entered this academy.
I already knew who he was and why he was doing this, but I had not stopped him earlier.
Right now, I could not act recklessly, and my future knowledge might change if I did.
I also wanted to give Jin Soyeon a real taste of the despair she would face.
The despair of facing a powerful monster.
……But I was the one feeling more fear.
Was this going to be mental training for both Soyeon and me?
“God damn it.”
Hong Daeye muttered a curse under her breath.
Without releasing the barrier, she was trapped inside the training ground with the two monsters.
“Don’t move from behind me.”
Hong Daeye stepped forward as if protecting the students of Team 1 and Team 16, then activated her anomaly ability.
Her anomaly ability was telekinesis.
Using intangible power, she could control both objects and living beings without distinction.
At her peak, she was said to be strong enough to topple buildings, but now….
“Krrrooook? Unngh.”
“God damn it… ugh.”
Just blocking one movement of the Minotaur seemed to be all she could manage.
If the Black-Hand Long-Armed Monkey started attacking too, Hong Daeye would not last long.
“……It seems like Hong Daeye alone really can’t do it.”
There was no choice.
After all, this event had been created under the assumption of defeat.
The so-called unwinnable battle event.
It was one of the common tropes used in many games.
Mainly used as a cliché to show the protagonist despair, powerlessness, and the enemy’s strength and majesty.
As the first monster’s appearance, it was set to give the protagonist party fear while forcing Hong Daeye to retire.
The clear goal of this event was simple survival.
If the security team arrived and she lasted ten minutes, the event would end, but Hong Daeye would be hospitalized for a long time after taking heavy damage.
Then she would not be able to help during the future joint training episode.
“I cannot let Hong Daeye retire here.”
She would be needed for the episode coming up, so I could not lose her.
Of course, that did not mean I could act recklessly.
Even Siwoo and Seolhyeon’s team would die if they made a mistake.
The gap in levels between us and these monsters was enormous.
“But there is no way without a good plan.”
It was an event where defeat was promised.
But it was never truly an event of guaranteed defeat.
“If you do it properly,” would be the accurate way to call it.
Of course, you could never defeat it with normal methods, but with one clever trick, you could make it collapse easily.
It was genuinely absurd.
Simple explanation.
Well, if such a method had not existed, would I have stood in front of these monsters with such composure?
In my previous life, I was just an ordinary person. An ordinary person.
Good, then I should start talking to the students a little.
What to do from now on.
“Everyone, I have something to say for a moment…?”
Suddenly I turned my gaze toward the students.
What was this?
“Haa, haa, ha.”
“U, uugh.”
“Huu. Huuu.”
All of them were drenched in cold sweat, their shoulders trembling, breathing heavily.
Siwoo, Seolhyeon, Seo Nari, Yuliya Troyanova—everyone was intermittently panting, struggling to breathe.
Especially Jin Soyeon.
Her face was deathly pale and she was shivering violently.
Ah, no. Why is she like this?
Hey, if you, the protagonist, react like this?
Even I, who was an ordinary person in my previous life, was holding on.
These monsters were scary, but was this reaction too over the top?
“……Ah. No way.”
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
“Because of killing intent?”
The killing intent I could not feel.
The setting about killing intent in this world flashed through my mind.
No, no. Wait a second.
No matter what, that could not be.
This much?
“No way. In the game, it was not this bad?”
In the game, she was perfectly fine.
No matter how different reality and game were, this difference was too big.
“I believed you, Soyeon!”
It seemed like it was over.
No, no.
Let me be more explicit.
……I was completely screwed right now.
***
“Mon… monster!”
A monster had appeared in the exam hall.
The sight of that monster licking its tongue and spewing sticky killing intent toward us was pure terror.
Salivating.
My body was trembling on its own. I could not calm down at all.
Was it because of the killing intent? I could not steady my body, which was shaking like a leaf.
I had to calm down, but I could not.
“Ugh… it’s hard to breathe…”
I sounded like I was hyperventilating. Breathe slowly, slowly.
Exposed to the intangible killing intent the monster was spewing, Jin Soyeon swallowed dryly and bit her lower lip hard.
That was the best she could do right now.
Killing intent this lewd and explicit….
It was similar to the killing intent Hong Daeye had shown on the first day, but unlike then, this was reality.
Together with her already weakened mind from the killing intent, she might actually die if she made a mistake.
That thought swirled wildly in her head and was buried deeper and deeper under the heavy emotion.
“H-Hong Daeye instructor….”
Hong Daeye was fighting desperately, but Jin Soyeon could feel instinctively.
She was slowly being pushed back.
The Minotaur was a notorious powerful monster.
Powerful enough to tear apart dozens of heroes by itself, so it required a team of heroes to fight it.
But could Hong Daeye alone face the Minotaur?
There was also that monkey monster too?
“I have to help. I have to help…”
My body would not obey.
It felt like it was nailed to the ground or frozen like old tree bark.
I did not have the confidence to survive in the middle of that storm-like battle.
She was weak. Just a mere cadet.
Even High-Ranker Hong Daeye was struggling, so if I stepped forward recklessly, I would die.
Then what should I do?
Jin Soyeon threw endless questions into her heart.
I cannot just stay still like this. I have to help the instructor. But is it okay? Am I interfering with the instructor like an idiot? Just staying still is not helping, right? But the instructor might not last long….
Within the endless loop of questions and answers.
Jin Soyeon bit her lower lip extremely hard in an instant.
Blood was about to come out.
Just excuses. Just excuses.
I was just not brave enough.
Do not lie to yourself to convince yourself. Jin Soyeon kept looking for a reason not to move.
Like a coward. I disappointed myself. Hero aspirant? But when the real thing came, this is what happened?
Move, move.
If I really want to become a hero, stop lying to yourself.
Coming up with excuses to convince myself was easy, but a hero could not compromise in the current situation.
p>Not allowed.
“Haa, haa, haaa…”
Breathe, take a big breath in and out.
I had prepared enough, but my body, which was trembling, did not let go of my legs as if it belonged to someone else.
To take the last step, a tiny bit of courage was needed.
A small but huge courage.
A courage that could give me certainty, that moving now was right.
But Jin Soyeon could not reach that certainty and courage at the end.
Like a pathetic girl, I could not go forward anymore….
“Soyeon-ah, are you okay?”
At that moment.
“Pull yourself together and breathe slowly.”
A clear voice woke Jin Soyeon’s mind from the daze.
A ray of light fell on the side of Jin Soyeon’s head, which had been slowly sinking into the dark depths.
Her confused thoughts suddenly cleared.
“……Eh?”
Right in front of her, Lee Jinhyuk was looking at her with a slightly worried expression and gently holding her shoulder.
Through his shoulder, soft touches and warm warmth came, and the sticky killing intent gradually, a little bit, began to break apart.
“You’re okay now?”
“U, uuh.”
Eyes.
His eyes were right in front of me.
Through his two eyes, I could see the girl’s face.
The sight of the girl reflected through his eyes reminded me of the past Jin Soyeon.
The fear, that day, the things that happened—those I could never forget.
Because a boy who had come to me, shaking with fear and endlessly begging for help, was the one who helped.
“It’s okay?”
“You’re really okay, right?”
That day, the girl thought. The boy who saved her was her own hero.
At the same time, the girl dreamed. She wanted to become a hero like him.
“I’m okay, I’m okay.”
“That’s good.”
Lee Jinhyuk sighed with a “Huu” and swept his gaze around.
Some of the students who had calmed down a little were looking at him.
Since they were all staring, it felt a bit burdensome.
“Hmm. Then listen up, kids. We cannot just stay still like this. We have to help the instructor.”
“How?”
Seolhyeon asked.
“Those monsters are not at a level where students can fight. And if I step in without a plan, I can only trip the instructor’s ankle?”
“Don’t worry.”
Lee Jinhyuk nodded with a serious expression.
“I have a good plan.”
Honestly, I was not sure if it would work, but I could not show hesitation in a situation like this.
After all, if things went wrong, I would just use “that thing.”
The fact that I had a sure insurance gave Lee Jinhyuk a sliver of confidence and stability.
“So can you help? Soyeon-ah?”
“Ah.”
Those eyes that showed confidence.
In this messy situation, his steady eyes and voice lit a flame in her heart, which had been stopped.
A small and huge courage, a flame.
“Yeah… of course.”
A hero who spreads hope in despair.
“Just say it.”
From the past to now, you have always been there when I needed you.
“I believe you.”
So this time, I will help you.
“If it’s your plan.”
Now, I could finally take one step forward, which had been stopped.
Because he had given me the certainty I could not have on my own, he became the lamp and light for her path.
***
“Eh? What? I thought Soyeon was completely out of it because of that pale face and shaking, but with just a few words, she pulled herself together.”
Fortunately, fortunately.