The Hero of the People

< p > The armored personnel carrier, built for counter-terrorism operations, could shrug off bullets like jokes.

< p > But the deck of that vehicle had been sliced clean in one stroke, as if cut like tofu.

< p > A ripping sound of metal echoed, and flames erupted. A massive chunk tumbled backward, halved in a single blow.

< p > In an instant, smoke blanketed the ground, and the only thing left was screams.

< p > “R-run—!!”

< p > “A m-monster! A monster has appeared!”

< p > The entire city fell under the monster alarm.

< p > The howling sirens, the tangled crowds, the mobile units fleeing with guns in hand—it was hell opening up in seconds.

< p > Behind them, between the wreckage of the broken armored vehicle, it revealed itself.

< p > Metal spines jutting out like blades from its arms and head.

< p > A colossal body coated in black iron.

< p > A calamity-class monster, easily double the size of an adult male.

< p > Its eyes held hatred so pure that the word “murder” fell short.

< p > [ < div style="text-align:center;border:3px solid #00219b;padding:25px;box-shadow:0 0 20px #00219b,inset 0 0 20px rgba(0,33,155,0.2);background:linear-gradient(135deg,#000 0%,#0a0a1a 50%,#000 100%);border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:20px;position:relative;"> < div style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;height:2px;background:linear-gradient(90deg,transparent,#00219b,transparent);"> < div style="color:#4d9fff;font-size:26px;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase;margin-bottom:15px;text-shadow:0 0 15px #00219b;letter-spacing:3px;">⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ < div style="color:#e0e0e0;font-size:18px;border-top:2px solid #00219b;padding-top:15px;line-height:1.8;"> < p > Warning broadcast. A calamity-class monster has appeared in the current area. Citizens, please evacuate immediately.

< p > “P-police! Help! The monster—!”

< p > “Save me! Please!”

< p > “E-emergency shelter! Where is the shelter?!”

< p > But no one answered those cries.

< p > Was the world rotten? Or had it always been rotten, with police only existing because they liked “a little fight”?

< p > “Get out of the way!”

< p > “Kyaa?!”

< p > The police mobile units who tried to climb back onto the remaining armored vehicle coldly kicked the hands of the citizens trying to grab their ankles.

< p > Adults, elderly, children—anyone whose hands clutched their ankles was shoved aside without mercy.

< p > And then—

< p > Tadatadatang!

< p > Even dangerous warning shots were fired, telling people not to come close.

< p > “Kyaaa?!”

< p > “T-the police are shooting people!”

< p > “Hey, you guys aren’t the police supposed to protect citizens?! Why are you running?!”

< p > One citizen shouted with courage.

< p > But the reply was truly ironic.

< p > “That’s something only ‘soldiers’ would deal with.”

< p > “…What?”

< p > “Our police jurisdiction is only human criminals. This is a monster. Out of our jurisdiction.”

< p > Everyone fell silent.

< p > In this world, fighting monsters had always been the military’s job.

< p > Monster-specific heavy weapons, high-performance bullets, reinforced gear, and even cyborgs at the pinnacle of human technology.

< p > Only the military possessed all of that.

< p > Naturally, every other organization ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had to weaken.

< p > The police were no exception.

< p > They only showed up after the battle had ended in monster zones.

< p > Clearing corpses and controlling the scene was their role.

< p > Everyone knew that.

< p > So normally, no one asked the police to stop a monster.

< p > But now, seeing the sight of them climbing onto the armored vehicle while trampling citizens just to save themselves, the words stuck in their throats.

< p > “B-but! Even if it’s just the kids, you could take them!”

< p > Then one mobile unit on the vehicle laughed.

< p > “Tsk… If we slow down because of you, we might get caught by the monster? Do you know how much this armored vehicle is worth?”

< p > His voice was cold and certain.

< p > “This is equipment borrowed from the military, hard-earned! In plain terms, even if you all add up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you’re not worth one of these vehicles.”

< p > For a moment, everyone’s mouths shut tight.

< p > Because in this world, that wasn’t just wrong—it was the truth.

< p > “The world has been half-ruined by monsters, resources dwindling—when has the current world valued people more than a single chunk of iron?”

< p > When the barrel pressed down once more, people slowly backed away.

< p > Their footsteps retreating from the monster’s approach direction trembled.

< p > “People give birth to many and die many, but one armored vehicle… we don’t even know how many tons of steel are left in the whole world now.”

< p > The words were right.

< p > An undeniable fact.

< p > But a deadly thing that shouldn’t leave anyone’s lips. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

< p > As those words chilled everyone’s spines, the police mobile units moved like machines.

< p > Everyone boarded the armored vehicle. Citizens slumped onto their knees, gripping tightly.

< p > That was when—

< p > “Ah, right.”

< p > Someone murmured briefly from the top of the vehicle.

< p > Clank— The ceiling opened, and a police officer slowly drew his gun.

< p > He was the squad leader who had just stormed the instant noodles shop earlier, bones covering his face.

< p > The man who ran first the moment the monster alarm sounded, abandoning the shop.

< p > Now, he gazed up at the sky from atop the vehicle.

< p > Every roar of the monster made the air shake and his chest contract.

< p > If it had been an erosion-class monster, he might have fled laughing.

< p > But this time was different.

< p > Calamity-class.

< p > So it was worth taking care.

< p > Bang!

< p > “Kuh?!”

< p > “Kyaaaa?!”

< p > “Mommy! Our baby!”

< p > The piercing gunshot.

< p > A breeze carried the scent of blood.

< p > At the same time, a mother’s scream pierced the air as she hugged her child.

< p > “We need one or two humans as bait for the monster.”

< p > “Sir, even if it’s like that… shooting at civilians…”

< p > The subordinate’s voice trembled.

< p > But the leader laughed with a cold snort.

< p > “Idiot, all the CCTV here has been wiped. And gun discharge in a monster zone? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That shows up in the news a few times a day.”

< p > His words were calculated.

< p > And beneath that calculation lay the beastly instinct to survive.

< p > “This one is calamity-class. If we leave those bastards and they come this way, we’re all wiped out, wiped out.”

< p > “…Ah, that’s right.”

< p > “So snap out of it.”

< p > The subordinate understood quickly.

< p > “Anyway, those guys will all die there. Who would know we did something like this? And even if they do, which side would the government take?”

< p > The result was obvious.

< p > “Just the citizens filling numbers and us police backing the government—there’s nothing to it, haha, the world is like that from the start.”

< p > With those words, the armored vehicle’s engine roared again.

< p > Vroom—

< p > The vehicles slowly faded into the distance.

< p > Only dust and exhaust remained.

< p > The remaining citizens.

< p > Trembling with fear, they rushed to the child hit by bullets as bait.

< p > “Doctor! Is there no doctor here?!”

< p > “Please, save our child!”

< p > “More than that, the monster…”

< p > “Anyone with hemostasis? Clothes, anything!”

< p > Blood continued to flow from the child’s belly.

< p > 119 didn’t come to the monster zone. Police or soldiers, no one came.

< p > People desperately tore their clothes to press on the wounds, but the bleeding was faster.

< p > And as time passed, more people began to scatter in terror.

< p > What remained was a few hands and the child’s faint breathing.

< p > At that moment, the blood-soaked child barely opened his mouth.

< p > “M-mom… it’s okay…”

< p > “Junseo!”

< p > “Bones Face… a hero will definitely… help…”

< p > A small hand clutched the smartphone screen.

< p > On it, a close-up of Bones Face eating jeyukbokkeum from the instant noodles shop earlier.

< p > Next to the photo, two clumsy words written in English.

< p > My friend.

< p > The mother heard those words and burst into sobs.

< p > “Junseo, no… please…”

< p > The man who had instantly restored the instant noodles shop to its original state.

< p > The miraculous scene everyone had witnessed.

< p > But now, he was nowhere to be seen.

< p > Someone searched around, but the only thing left was the quiet scene and the scent of blood.

< p > And then—

< p > “KRRRRAAAAAARRRRAAAAAHHH!!”

< p > The calamity-class monster’s roar shook the city once more.

< p > “Hee… the m-monster’s cry…”

< p > “Too close! It’s coming this way!”

< p > The sound of wailing from somewhere unknown.

< p > Its vibration scraped deep into the lungs.

< p > Someone collapsed and howled, others screamed “Help!” toward the sky.

< p > At that instant—

< p > Boom!

< p > The ground flipped.

< p > Dust swirled like a storm, and asphalt rose.

< p > The silhouette of the monster was swallowed by smoke.

< p > A massive body covered in metallic skin, blades protruding from arms and head.

< p > A living weapon.

< p > “It’s here… it’s here!!”

< p > People screamed.

< p > And among the screams, only one small child smiled.

< p > “He… hehehe…”

< p > Because—

< p > Clop, clop, clop.

< p > One shadow emerged from the dust.

< p > Under the shadow, the head of the blade-armed monster.

< p > And the hand gripping that head.

< p > The body, head twisted, dragged along the ground.

< p > It was already dead.

< p > The man with Bones Face slowly walked out holding the corpse in one hand.

< p > He knelt in front of the child.

< p > And said gently,

< p > “I was late catching the monster… but you held on well.”

< p > The air stopped.

< p > Someone gasped, someone else cried.

< p > “Blood Eclipse Art.”

< p > As he reached out to the fallen child, bullet fragments flew out slowly with blood, glowing in the air, and gathered on his palm.

< p > Then the child’s wounds began to close.

< p > The bleeding stopped, flesh grew, and the pale face slowly regained its color.

< p > “Junseo… Junseo!”

< p > The mother howled and hugged the child.

< p > “A-ah… thank you… thank you!”

< p > But he did not lower his head.

< p > It was not over yet.

< p > “Kid.”

< p > He said softly.

< p > “Your name is Junseo, right?”

< p > “Yes!”

< p > “Good. Then, Junseo…”

< p > His gaze turned distant.

< p > “The ones who did that to you are those guys over there, right?”

< p > The child shuddered, clenched his teeth, and nodded.

< p > “Yes!!”

< p > In the distance, a convoy of armored vehicles fleeing while abandoning citizens could be seen.

< p > The ones once called “the people’s staff.”

< p > Now, only cowardly shadows trampling “the people.”

< p > [ < div style="text-align:center;border:3px solid #00219b;padding:25px;box-shadow:0 0 20px #00219b,inset 0 0 20px rgba(0,33,155,0.2);background:linear-gradient(135deg,#000 0%,#0a0a1a 50%,#000 100%);border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:20px;position:relative;"> < div style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;height:2px;background:linear-gradient(90deg,transparent,#00219b,transparent);"> < div style="color:#4d9fff;font-size:26px;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase;margin-bottom:15px;text-shadow:0 0 15px #00219b;letter-spacing:3px;">⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ < div style="color:#e0e0e0;font-size:18px;border-top:2px solid #00219b;padding-top:15px;line-height:1.8;"> < p > Master, attacking the police here will make the government officially designate you! We must stop now!

< p > He was right.

< p > Stopping now would be wise.

< p > But he slowly exhaled.

< p > The corners of his mouth slowly rose.

< p > A low breathing sound leaked through the gaps in the mask.

< p > “Those bastards don’t deserve to just be ignored.”

< p > And, briefly,

< p > “Hey.”

< p > His gaze pierced through the distant armored vehicles.

< p > “Take this… for yourselves.”

< p > Whish—

< p > The air twisted in an instant.

< p > Pressure exploded.

< p > The colossal body of the monster slowly, yet impossibly fast, lifted into the air.

< p > The sound of tearing air followed.

< p > “W-wait, wait, wait, wait?!?”

< p > “L-leader, behind—!”

< p > “Sh—!!”

< p > The next instant—

< p > KWAHAHAHAHAANG!

< p > The armored vehicle flipped over as it was.