Inflection Point

Behemoth.

In the Original Work, that was the black substance Dr. Kim Seon-woo would later retrieve.

Composed of multiple layers of small black tentacles, it attaches to the user's body, reinforcing whatever body part it's stuck to.

Of course, the utility of Behemoth doesn't stop there.

It moves freely according to the user's will, so its applications are numerous.

It can be clustered into a fist and fired like a rocket punch, which means it doesn't even have to stick to your body. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The possibilities are endless.

In the Original Work, Kim Seon-woo used it to fight Stardus.

In other words, with this, even an ordinary person can fight a superhuman.

Which meant that, with it, I could have a one-on-one showdown with Stardus too, right?

"....Aren't you going to put that down?"

"And why would I do that?"

I smirked at her as she growled at me, her expression hard.

By now, Behemoth had completely enveloped my right hand.

With my right hand now a mass of tentacles—

I tried making a fist.

"I like it."

Nice.

It felt like power was surging through my right hand.

The tentacles also seemed to be linked directly to my brain, letting them move exactly as I wanted.

...Yeah. At this level, fighting Stardus didn't seem so far-fetched.

She was still staring at me with that hard expression.

She looked like she wanted to charge in right this second and rip this thing off me, but fat chance of that.

She knew that if I simply teleported away, it would all be over. That was why she stayed put, unable to rush in.

Teleportation really is great.

"Stardus. Allow me to give you one piece of advice. Know what it is? Never trust a villain! Honestly, I'm a little baffled that you didn't already know that. Hahahahaha!"

My smug answer made her expression twist even further.

Yeah. Originally, I had planned to stop there, say, 'Thanks for your hard work~,' and bail.

That was my plan.

Tch. It'd be a little lame to leave things there, wouldn't it?

Now that I'd gained a new ability and all.

Might as well give Stardus a wake-up call while I was at it.

I wagged my black-stained right hand at Stardus and said,

"If you really want to take it from me... then come and try."

Once I said that with a smile, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"...I'll beat you within an inch of your life."

BOOM—

In an instant, she kicked off the ground and flew at me.

"Grit your teeth."

She threw a punch straight at me as she spoke.

And me?

I had already cocked my fist and was ready.

But a real man didn't get into a tacky, close-quarters fistfight with a woman.

The moment she got right up to my nose and swung her punch—

I shifted a handspan back and cocked my fist.

Then I fired it at her.

Egostic-Style Secret Art—

Rocket Punch.

KABOOM.

The black fist-shaped tentacle fired from my hand shot straight at Stardus.

And it collided right with the punch she was swinging.

BOOOOM—

The fists clashed with a thunderous noise.

Stardus looked slightly taken aback that the fist had withstood her punch.

Yeah. This is Behemoth's power, I'm telling you.

...Of course, I had not simply wrapped it around my right arm for a physical brawl. I had concentrated all the tentacles into one small fist, which was why it could withstand her power. On top of that, Stardus wasn't planning to kill me outright, so she was probably holding back as well.

But does any of that matter?

What mattered was that I was fighting her on more or less equal terms.

"Hey!! Fight fair!!"

"When have you ever seen a villain fight fair?"

She shouted at me as I kept dodging her and firing tentacle fists from a distance, but I ignored her.

...And wait, didn't Stardus just break character a little? The line was supposed to be more like, 'You fiend! Fight me fairly!'

Huh. She must be a little pissed. Wonder why she's pissed?

As the fight continued, I saw that her face was full of rage and betrayal.

...Betrayal? Why would she feel betrayed? Villains betraying people was common sense. I couldn't understand it. No matter how I thought about it, she hadn't tasted enough of life's bitterness.

And so the fight went on.

Me, constantly teleporting away and peppering her with cheap tentacle jabs.

The room was large, but with me teleporting and her flying from one end to the other as we traded blows, walls crumbled and chaos broke out.

...This one-note pattern is getting boring.

I'd teleported too much. I was tired. This was exhausting.

Had I ever fought this hard, moving my body around so much? No. Honestly, it felt less as though I was fighting than as though Behemoth was fighting on my behalf, but still...

Still, shouldn't that have been enough to teach her a lesson?

Looking at her still flying at me full of energy and rage, I loaded my fist once more.

When she threw another punch at me, I threw mine too.

Bam—

This time, instead of attacking from a similar distance, I wrapped Behemoth directly around my right arm and met her fist head-on.

My arm was a little numb and tingling, but I could block this much.

Because this was going to be my last attack.

I only needed to run my mouth a little longer and then escape. Seo-eun would be worried about me.

With our bodies pressed close—or rather, with our fists locked together—I gave her my final goodbye.

"Today's lesson. You got it, right? Never trust a villain..."

Yeah.

Never trust a villain.

Just as I was about to finish my warning and tell her not to get backstabbed like this again—

That was when it happened. Suddenly.

Right in front of me, Stardus stared as though she wanted me dead.

And behind her, there was nothing. Empty space.

Yeah. It was empty.

Until something suddenly burst out behind her.

It had a massive white face.

It stood roughly two meters tall, with a mouth grotesquely torn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠open.

Its arms were white and razor-sharp, like giant scythes.

It had appeared so suddenly—bursting from thin air in an instant.

At a moment no one had anticipated, it emerged in the blink of an eye.

And from the moment it appeared, it was already swinging that scythe-like arm straight at Stardus's back.

In that instant, my mind just stopped.

Stardus still had no idea what was happening. She was defenseless, staring only at me.

Before I could even decide what to do, the white scythe was already flying toward her neck.

The one monster we hadn't managed to kill.

*

《RKCB-1107》

[Tentative Name] Teleporter

[Precautions] Can escape via teleportation, so maintain A-rank security at all times. It attacks from behind, so exercise caution.

*

Right. I seemed to remember reading something like that.

But I hadn't been able to spot the thing and still didn't really worry about it. Didn't even pay it any mind.

Because we'd been slaughtering all the other monsters so easily until now.

And that carelessness of mine had become a massive dagger aimed straight at Stardus.

What was I supposed to do?

It was too late to shout a warning. My tentacles were already locked against her fist, and my telekinesis was too weak to stop it.

Could I grab her and teleport? Not with Behemoth wrapped around the hand currently locked against hers.

Then there was no other choice.

I teleported.

To the spot right behind her back, right where the monster was swinging its scythe.

And I took her place.

And it stabbed me.

SHNK—

"What the—?! What is that?!"

The scream came from behind me.

Back-to-back with her, taking the hit in her place, I drove the same fist I'd aimed at her into the monster.

Crunch.

It was so easy. Its head shattered, scattering into white powder.

Yeah. A monster I could have taken out so, so easily.

Would've been better if I'd killed it without getting a hole punched through my chest.

"Wh-what the...?! Y-you... why...?"

Her stammering voice, utterly panicked, came from above me.

Of course she'd be baffled. The villain she'd been fighting just a second ago suddenly moved behind her and took the hit for her.

To put it mildly, my condition was terrible.

I lay sprawled on the floor, bleeding from a hole in my chest large enough to fit a fist through.

You crazy bastard. It went right through my body.

Fucking hurts.

"Kgh."

I spat blood right there.

Blood poured from my chest and spilled from my mouth. It was a damn mess. Ha, haha...

"No... what... why... are you okay...? Damn it... why... what is this...?"

Stardus's voice coming from above.

I could barely hear it over the ringing in my ears.

I needed to go back. Fast. Home.

At this rate, I was really going to die.

Wait. Before I left... I had to say one thing. Otherwise it would look strange.

Using every ounce of strength I had, I squeezed out a single phrase.

"Kgh. This... this time... you owe me one."

With one final look at her—still completely panicked, staring at me with trembling eyes like she had no idea what to do—

I simply teleported away. Home.

I hoped I wasn't too late.

Hahaha.

***

Late at night.

A large mansion hidden deep in a mountain valley.

In its kitchen, three people were gathered.

"Seriously. When is big bro ever going to get back?"

The girl with white hair puffing out her cheeks as she stared at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her smartphone was Han Seo-eun.

A long time had passed since Dain went underground, and she was worried because she had lost contact with him.

"...Let's wait a little longer. And Ha-yul, don't you have school tomorrow? You should start heading to bed soon."

At Soo-bin's worried words, Ha-yul shook her head with a bitter smile.

"No. I'll wait a little longer, too."

"Ugh. Seriously, big bro does nothing but make people worry..."

As the three women's sighs grew heavier—

Crashbang—

The sound of something collapsing came from the living room.

"Oh! Big bro must finally be back!"

The moment she heard it, Seo-eun jumped up and rushed out.

As the other two rose and followed her toward the living room—

they heard Seo-eun, who had run ahead, scream from inside.

"Aaaah!!!"

"Seo-eun! What happened?!"

Startled by the sudden scream, the two hurried into the living room.

And what they saw was this—

A hole had been punched straight through his upper body.

Blood poured from it, soaking his entire body.

Egostic lay collapsed, leaning against Seo-eun.

"Big bro, big bro! Wh-what do I do?! Big bro!!"

Seo-eun was beside him in a total state of panic, crying her eyes out.

The other two saw him collapsed, barely breathing as blood poured from him.

Faced with the sudden, shocking sight, they could not help panicking.

"Wh-what... Ah. Ah. F-first... call 119. I need to call..."

In a state of shock, Lee Soo-bin took her phone out of her pocket with shaking hands.

But maybe her hands were trembling too much. The phone slipped through her fingers as she lifted it, smashed against the floor, and broke.

"Oh. No."

As Lee Soo-bin dropped to her knees, eyes still unfocused, and fumbled for the broken phone—

Ha-yul, beside her, was already heading toward him.

"Seo-eun. Move aside."

"Huh? Oh—okay..."

Ha-yul's voice was filled with resolve. Still crying, Seo-eun awkwardly crawled back and moved away from him.

Kneeling right in front of his collapsed form, Ha-yul placed both her hands on Dain's body.

And then.

Flash.

The living room around them was suddenly filled with light.

***

A sudden sensation cut through my fading consciousness.

Warmth spread through my entire body.

Ah.

Ha-yul stepped up, huh.

Good. I wasn't too late.

I was alive. That was all that mattered...

Haha. Man, I really almost died.

A man's got to tap-dance along the edge of death at least once in his life. It would make a great story later. 'Haha, that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a close one!' and all that.

...Though waking up afterward is going to be a problem.

Seo-eun, Soo-bin, and Ha-yul must all be in shock.

And Stardus...

Ah, whatever. I'll think about that after I wake up.

Having thought that far, I lost consciousness completely.

Good luck, future me...!