The White-Haired Monster
Back when I was still on Monster Island, I often entertained a certain assumption. What if I returned to my original world while keeping this body? I'd be able to take on two or three UFC heavyweight champions at once, grinning ear to ear the whole time. Hell, this body I built couldn't possibly lose to gorillas or chimps, let alone tigers, lions, or even an African elephant. And even in this world, if we stripped away all the annoying techniques and magic and just competed on pure physicality, I was convinced no one could match this body.
I figured that even guys like Drakan or Number 9, with their monstrous physiques, wouldn't have that huge a gap in raw physical power.
'...Fuck.'
That was before I laid eyes on the insane body now filling my vision.
'A human... that I have to look up to?'
Everything was wrong from the start—this guy was a whole head taller than me, even after all the shit I'd been through. Beneath his lion's-mane beard and flowing white hair, his shoulders spread out like a goddamn small SUV. His arms, hanging loose below shoulders bigger than watermelons, bulged with triceps so thick they strained against his worn tunic, the rugged volume obvious even under the fabric.
A giant. Drakan's body was the kind that made you think of that word instantly, and it sure as hell wasn't captured by some half-assed line in the novel.
"That white-haired monster possessed a body so ridiculously strong it didn't even belong in the same category as other humans."
Now I got it.
"What're you staring at?"
That explained why Nadia hadn't freaked out at my ridiculous physique. It wasn't her innocence—it was that she'd already seen something even bigger. And they weren't just acquaintances; they seemed close.
"Ears clogged? Or do my words not sound like words to you?"
"Huh?"
"If you've received a favor, repay it right now. Where do you think you're slinking off to?"
"What the fu—"
"Ha! There it is, showing your true colors."
Insane. I felt the rage bubbling up before I could stop it. Island habits die hard—world-setting monster or not, the asshole pissed me off, twisting my face. Just as something flashed in Drakan's eyes, growling low like he'd caught the perfect prey...
"What the hell... are you?"
"Uncle!"
Nadia jumped between us, hands on her hips, glaring up at him.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Oh, Nadia. Don't worry about it."
"This guy's a castaway! A shipwreck survivor! He barely escaped the sea with his life and just came to—he's starving after drifting who knows how long! And you're talking like this in front of him?!"
"Ah, well, you see—"
"Quiet! When someone's in trouble, you help them! Don't you know Uncle's close with my dad?!"
"Heh heh, you're right, you're right."
Drakan scratched the back of his head sheepishly in front of Nadia’s tirade, his face shifting to that of a kindly neighborhood grandpa as he soothed her.
"Yeah, we gotta help those in need. Nadia's right."
"You did it last time too... If you're gonna keep scaring people like this, don't come to our house anymore!"
"Sorry, Uncle messed up."
"Apologize properly!"
I was thinking, Grandpa calling himself uncle? What the hell? when...
"...Mmph."
"Pardon?"
"Uncle, apologize right!"
"This damn... sorry."
Drakan fumbled through his apology at Nadia's insistence.
"You've been through hell already, and here I am mouthing off on first meeting. My bad."
"Ah... whatever."
His gritted-teeth grin looked downright creepy. I just nodded vaguely.
'What the hell's their deal?'
I was curious, sure, but it didn't matter. Only one thing did right now: getting away from that psycho monster who'd kill or cripple anyone who crossed him, and from Nadia, around whom more of those monsters kept gathering.
"Anyway, I'll be going then—"
"No."
"Pardon?"
"I want to sincerely apologize for my rudeness. If you're amenable, let me treat you to dinner tonight."
"Ah, I've got urgent business—"
"What business?"
"Personal matters—"
"So, what personal matters?"
"You always this nosy?"
"What?"
Fuck. 'Goddammit, my mouth moved before my brain again...'
Too long on that island? Even knowing Drakan's feats from the novel, telling myself to be careful, I couldn't filter the surge of irritation and spat it out.
'Hold it in. Or all that time scraping by for survival goes to waste.'
But it was too late.
"When an elder offers a meal, you just say yes and eat—"
Crackle.
Drakan's eyes turned suspicious, now radiating killing intent. I glanced at Nadia, but...
'Oh, shit.'
She had no intention of intervening. No—if anything...
She grinned at Drakan, clapped her hands, and beamed innocently.
"Ah! Great idea! Have dinner at our place before you go! Uncle brought tons of wild boar from yesterday's hunt!"
"I've got things to do—"
"C'mon, you just woke up today—no need to rush! Unless it's gotta be today, come eat dinner at our house! You must be shocked; stay a few days to recover!"
Ah, right.
"Nadia, raised without peers in a remote duchy, saw the royal ball as the perfect chance to achieve her long-awaited goal: making friends!"
Nadia had been portrayed from the novel's start as the protagonist without real friends. The daughter of fallen nobles, she'd jumped for joy at the royal ball invitation kicking off Young Lord's Poison.
Twinkle twinkle.
That sparkle in her eyes now made sense in that light—curiosity about a stranger she'd never seen, a break from her boring routine.
But... no dice.
"Haha, sorry, I really am bu..."
—Wanna die? Reject it.
A whisper drilled into my ear as I started to refuse. I whipped around—Drakan's lips were moving.
—Think I can't hunt down a worm like you after you leave?
What the—telepathy? Like something out of a wuxia novel. My eyes widened at the realm...
—I've got questions. What scheme brought you crawling to these backwoods? You after Nadia?
Drakan's voice continued.
—And what the hell are you that you hid a gem like that on your thigh?
"...!"
He'd sensed the Cyclops gem strapped tight to my inner thigh with cloth—survived the drift without washing away. Secondary issue.
'This crazy old fuck... blackmailing me?'
Furious, I scowled at Drakan full-force, then turned to Nadia and bellowed with forced cheer.
"...Y'know, dinner sounds fine after all!"
"Yay! Awesome!"
Thud, thud.
In the Luminis Estate—just a fallen noble's patch of land with a single small mountain—I walked with Drakan, muttering inwardly nonstop.
'No, not yet...'
Rage kept surging, but for survival, I had to swallow it. All that hell was to stay alive, right?
Glance.
'This guy's on another level from the scraps on Monster Island.'
Drakan was too dangerous. Not just from the novel. My expanded senses picked up acute details: even strolling casually, his killing intent was thick enough to choke me.
'White-Haired Monster.'
Recalling his moniker, I thought: time to find an opening and bolt.
Of course, no competitive itch? The novel's feats made my island escape look like child's play.
'Wanna charge in like a madman and test this body?'
I was curious how far I could push it. But not now. Drifting had drained my energy somehow—Berserk Mode wouldn't activate, my whole body screamed it.
'Hold it. Just till Berserk Mode recharges—'
At least till my body hit peak. I'd bide my time, watch the situation.
Of course, someone might think: Ascension. To reach that realm and return home, wouldn't brushing with monsters like this help?
The pinnacle only a handful of masters pierced after breaking their limits—like wuxia immortals ascending.
But... no.
Drakan wasn't the teaching type I could learn from or beg lessons from.
Why? This lunatic never even reached his limits by the novel's end—a monster among monsters, born with such a massive vessel he joined the top ranks without enlightenment.
Plus.
'His senses are leagues above mine.'
Not just detecting the thigh-strapped Cyclops gem mid-drift. He'd already marked me suspicious.
—Don't roll your eyes. Pull any bullshit, and I'll make you beg for an easy death.
Drakan shot me a glance, eyes flashing murder. Thump! My chest throbbed.
That glare screamed no room for chit-chat on Ascension or whatever.
"Hm?"
Nadia glanced back suddenly. Maybe caught the flash in Drakan's eyes, turning curiously.
"Haha, Nadia. What's up?"
—Smile.
'This old bastard?'
"Haha. Nothing?"
Drakan's casual chuckle, my forced grin to match.
"Hehe. Nope!"
She grinned back, then faced front, humming and skipping with glee. Ta-dak! Ta-dak!
Soon after following her, we reached her rundown mansion.
Bang!
Nadia flung open the warm wooden gate, shouting. A sickly middle-aged man greeted her.
"Dad! We have a guest!"
"Cough."
He sat in a rocking chair by the crackling fireplace, coughing lightly as he eyed me.
"A guest?"
"Yeah! He was collapsed alone on that beach—shipwrecked or something? Looked like he'd drifted forever, super hungry! So I gave him fruit right away! Called Silvia and Undine to wash him up nice! Good job, right?!"
"..."
At Nadia's chatter, he slowly turned, eyes widening on me.
Yeah, that's the normal reaction. Then he looked to Drakan.
"Cough! Godfather."
"Ah, hmm."
'Godfather... to Nadia's dad?'
Drakan answered his explanatory look.
"Quite the coincidence. Nadia ran off to hear the waves alone, found this young man lying there. Drifted in without a single scratch anywhere—such a strapping fellow, rare even in the kingdom. Lucky, eh?"
"Ah... very lucky."
I saw it. A subtle exchange of glances between them.
"Must be fate. So I invited him for dinner tonight—hope I didn't overstep?"
"What are you saying. Cough! Your thoughts are mine, Godfather. Excellent."
Unlike Nadia, eyes sparkling with excitement at a new face...
"Royal ball invites out of the blue after forgetting them, now a hale stranger washes up alive nearby—lately, nothing but good fortunes."
"Right? All coincidences piling up."
Edwin traded loaded words with Drakan. Instinct screamed: he eyed me suspiciously too.
"Cough!"
As he coughed, face full of doubt, staring at me with Drakan...
"Pleased to meet you."
I realized: 'Fuck, Berserk Mode's still...'
Cooldown unfinished—only Nadia's sympathy to leverage for survival.
Nod.
Toward the man whose face screamed unwelcome, I desperately dredged up a pitiful backstory...
'Ah... fuck it, too annoying. Wanna smash it all.'
Island habits of brute-forcing everything made it tempting. Tired of the bullshit, I just went with the truth.
"Cough! I'm Nadia's father, Edwin Luminis."
"I... have no name."
"?!"
"...Lost my memories in biotech experiments on the island."
"!!!"
The three faces in the parlor twisted in their own ways at my blunt truth.