The White Giant
The school had been temporarily closed for a day ever since the Erosion-class monster appeared near SAHS.
Even as a military school, the emergence of a survivor from a close-quarters monster brawl was unprecedented.
One of the eyewitnesses from that day's incident.
Third-year student Kim Pung.
A student who had survived face-to-face with a monster.
By the standards of the Monster Research Bureau, such survivors were classified as temporary analysts.
After all, even the tiniest details—like a monster's appearance, movement, roar frequency, or attack pattern—could become vital information.
That's why he had been transferred from the school to the SIRD, the Monster Countermeasures Information Bureau under the Ministry of Defense.
I heard he was there for a "memory-recall interview."
And that night, the question the boy had asked me kept looping endlessly in my head.
*"Can I... become a hero like you?"*
I never answered.
Because it was a question that didn't *need* an answer.
It was one he had to realize for himself.
Then, a full day later, I had already been in SAHS for a week.
From the outside, everything looked peaceful.
The monster had vanished, and the students had returned.
To the surface, it was a "happy ending."
But my status window refused to allow it.
**Quest Triggered: "Even in this world, the place where humanity's most talented minds gather!"**
**Task: Hunt down the monster that will appear within a week at Seoul Autonomous Defense High School (SAHS) and protect all students and teachers. (0 / 231)**
**Deadline: D-0**
There was only one condition for this mode to issue a quest.
The minimum level was a *city-scale crisis*.
An Erosion-class? That was nothing but a tutorial monster.
This mode was signaling that something at least Disaster-class—or even greater, enough to erase an entire city from the map—would appear.
And that deadline was right now, the very last day of the week.
*How does it appear on the last day of the week?*
I had been unnecessarily tense the whole time.
But secretly, I felt a quiet relief.
At least right now the school was still under the holiday order.
*'As long as the kids aren't there, a Disaster-class or whatever it is, it'll be over in a blink—like last time with the Velial Bird.'*
With the Velial Bird, I had been tied up evacuating apartment residents.
But this time was different.
No hostages. No civilians. No variables to worry about.
And right now my body was packed with every mode I had.
Starting with Shaman Mode and still more unused modes, the ultimate character was fully loaded.
All that remained was to turn up, slap that monster on the express to the underworld, and finish.
The thought made my lips curl into a grin—half smile, half mocking.
*'Yeah. This time it's perfect.'*
At least until the next morning.
My thoughts were spectacularly wrong.
"Everyone, please listen. There have been reports of a monster appearing near SAHS lately. And you all heard that Kim Pung was attacked, right?"
The vice principal's voice boomed through the microphone from the podium.
It was loud enough to reach the entire hallway.
"But don't worry. Kim Pung has been safely rescued and is under SIRD protection. He only has a light interview to finish and should be back soon."
*Light interview?*
I had never heard that word sound so sinister.
I stood by the window, spinning a dusty duster in slow circles as I listened.
*Holiday order is over? In one day?*
I had really underestimated this world.
The era when education led the future had already ended.
The school was now nothing more than a breeding ground for the next generation of survivors.
And in a breeding ground like this, even a single day was more than enough to close the gates.
The next day the bell rang again, as if nothing had happened.
It was then.
*...Humans are heartless, aren't they?*
*Min-ah?*
*"Even though a monster that eats people alive appears in the area where he used to live, she still came back to study the next day. And even though a classmate in the same class was injured, classes resumed. As a teacher, I think that's really... too much."*
Maybe my expression had given everything away.
While the vice principal continued his speech on the podium, Ha Min-ah had quietly slipped up beside me.
As always, she read my face and saw straight through to my thoughts.
*"Yes... Honestly, I was surprised too. Even I thought at least a week would pass. Or maybe we'd have distance learning."*
*"That was possible. But most SAHS classes are hands-on. Shooting, tactics, command, weapon handling. Everything requires the body. The Ministry of Education has rejected distance learning for a long time."*
*The Ministry of Education... doesn't even work in this world.*
I muttered under my breath.
In the meantime, the principal took over the microphone from the vice principal.
His calm voice echoed through the speakers.
"The monster's appearance cycle is usually more than a week. Especially in the same region, there has never been a case of consecutive appearances in forty years. So please, students, don't let unnecessary anxiety take root. SAHS's air-defense network is fully operational."
It wasn't comfort so much as a *reminder*.
The appearance cycle, disaster probability, air-defense activation rate.
Every teacher and student in this world had memorized it.
The exact same lines after every appearance.
*"Statistically safe."*
*"The system is functioning."*
Always the same two sentences.
The principal's words felt like the script of this entire world—too familiar.
Yeah, I knew.
I knew the world had always been set up that way.
But I also knew what happened when that *setting* broke.
That's why I had to go somewhere no one else was.
I couldn't let the students who trusted those words die to the upcoming Disaster-class monster.
Just as the monster's appearance triggered the switch to Shaman Mode, I started to slip away quietly.
But.
*"By the way, Seung-hwan! You heard?"*
*"Hm?"*
*"The rumor is that the person who saved Kim Pung... is none other than that 'man in the bone mask'!"*
*"...Ah, really?"*
*"Yes! Ha... Honestly, as a teacher and as a soldier, I shouldn't say this—but I'm jealous! I'd be fine with being attacked if it meant I could see him one more time!"*
Beside me, Ha Min-ah's eyes sparkled like she was speaking from pure fanhood.
No, please.
Don't do that for real.
If I intentionally rushed at a monster, half-broken, and waved with a "Let's meet you♡" face, would that be *scary* or *yandere*?
The healing would be possible, but my mental state after seeing the scene would be irreparable.
A heroine waving hello with bones and guts half-crushed.
I wasn't into that kind of taste, Min-ah.
While I grumbled only in my head and forced a bitter smile—
It was then.
**Kugugu...**
*"Huh?"*
*"...Huh?"*
The ground beneath my feet trembled just a little.
At first I thought it was a trick.
But the vibration quickly grew like a wave.
The entire playground began to undulate, and the vice principal on the podium staggered and dropped his microphone.
**Kugugugu-gung!**
*"E-Earthquake?!"*
*"Everyone, lie down—!"*
*"Kyaaah!"*
The playground floor cracked like a spiderweb.
Sand and soil erupted. The speaker pole twisted.
The air itself shook.
Not wind. The ground was writhing.
And then.
**Kwaaang!!**
Behind the playground, the SAHS main building split apart as if blown up.
Concrete walls were pushed outward from the inside, white dust storming down.
**Uuuuuuuung.**
The wail that echoed from inside was unmistakably that of a living being.
But at the same time, it was the sound of the world's structure tearing.
*"A m-monster?!"*
Students' screams chained one after another.
I swallowed hard while watching the scene unfold before my eyes.
*Damn... Even if I knew it was coming, the timing was too bad.*
Red dust blanketed the sky.
Sunlight vanished. The world turned ash-gray for a moment.
From within that cloud, a massive silhouette slowly took shape.
Not flesh. Not metal.
Like a statue forcibly reshaped into human form from marble.
The white surface cracked with fine lines, black smoke seeping through the gaps.
No eyes. No mouth.
Yet the gaze— no, the very presence—pierced straight through every human on the playground.
It wasn't alive.
It was something that pressed down simply by existing.
**One step.**
The *giant's* foot slammed into the ground.
**Kwa-dddeuk.**
The concrete of the playground collapsed in an instant. Soil, dust, and metal fragments rose into the air.
*"Disaster-class."*
Someone muttered it.
Or maybe it was my own voice.
It wasn't a monster.
It was one "punishment" the world itself spat out.
*Just by looking at its size, it's at least double the last one... No, that one was seen from above, so at least triple or more? A building fifteen stories tall, an entire apartment block moving as one...*
Even so, the scale was impossible.
But right now there was no time to quibble.
If that monster took just one more step toward us, every teacher and student on this playground would vanish—not as bloody paste, but as a handful of dust.
Ha Min-ah had frozen solid in the face of reality.
Even she, so composed, couldn't move.
So I quietly steadied my breathing and made my decision.
I had to transform right now.
I had to slip away where no one was and activate Shaman Mode.
But.
**Swoosh.**
The giant that had almost stepped forward stopped.
It slowly, *very* slowly turned its head.
The gaze of the white giant drifted away from us.
It passed straight ahead and lifted its head toward the city.
A dense forest of skyscrapers.
A place with far more people.
And then.
**Kung.**
**Kung, kung.**
One more footstep and the playground shook again.
A low rumble that dulled the ears shook the earth.
*"Eh, ehh...?"*
*"T-that thing... is passing by us?"*
The giant paid no attention to the insignificant swarm of bugs.
It simply walked with heavy, casual steps toward the place with more "food."
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