Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Am I the Strong One? (2)
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‘What the hell is this monster...’
I stared down at the monster charging toward me, my face blank with disbelief.
It was definitely short.
Overall, it wasn’t a particularly large monster.
From a distance, I’d guessed it only came up to about my waist.
But its appearance and the weapon in its hand made it impossible to let my guard down completely.
‘Isn’t this kinda dangerous...?’
It had already spotted me.
I was behind the counter, so running away right now wasn’t an option.
Not only was this creature with a face I’d never seen before walking upright on two legs, but it was charging straight at me, hostility plain as day.
My thoughts didn’t drag on for long.
I saw the club swinging toward me.
If I were an ordinary human, I wouldn’t have had time to react—I’d have been smashed and gone down.
That is, if I were an ordinary human.
‘Why is it so slow?’
It was slow.
Objectively speaking, the monster was charging fast enough.
But to me, it looked endlessly sluggish.
It was at a point where failing to react would make no sense.
‘I can’t hit it too hard...’
Instinctively, I worried that even a light tap would burst its body and dirty the café floor, so I relaxed all my strength and thrust my hand out toward the oncoming monster as if reaching for it.
- Krarak?!
The leaping monster got smashed by my casually extended fist.
Unlike my expectation that it’d at least knock it out, the result was gruesome.
Splat!
The moment my fist touched its head, it exploded like a watermelon.
Bone fragments and brains splattered across the floor.
Thud!
The headless body hit the ground with a heavy thump.
“Ah.”
I hadn’t meant to go that far.
I broke out in a cold sweat as I looked down at the monster with its skull blown open.
‘Don’t tell me I have to clean this up...?’
Even as that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but feel ridiculous about myself.
Either way, a life had ended instantly from my punch.
Sure, it had charged me first, so it was practically suicide, but I’d still killed it, hadn’t I?
And even if I hadn’t technically killed it, seeing something vaguely humanoid with its head exploded right in front of me—and not freaking out much inside?
I’d always been called calm, but not this calm. It was weird how at peace I felt.
‘Is this the Stat Cheat too?’
Should I call this a good thing...?
Not panicking too much was probably a blessing in this situation.
As I gazed down at the corpse with a complicated expression, I heard footsteps from the direction of the door again.
This time, even more monsters were shuffling in.
- Grak? Grararak!
- Grarak!
Whether enraged by their comrade’s death or not, the monsters started howling.
They raised their weapons and charged at me.
“Shit...”
Do I have to fight?
Running would be the natural choice here...
But I didn’t really feel like fleeing.
More than that, I needed to test just how strong I was now.
There was no one else in the shop anyway, and no one seemed about to barge in.
‘Let’s give it a shot.’
Having made up my mind, I stepped out from behind the counter.
The moment I did, I came face-to-face with the monsters rushing at me.
First, a light one.
I’d gotten a rough handle on controlling my strength during my warehouse gig, so dialing it back wasn’t a big issue.
Just a casual punch, thinking this should be fine.
But I’d overlooked something.
This was a fist that could blow a monster’s head apart with a mere extension.
What happens if you swing with full intent behind that power?
The answer was obvious.
Boom!
The shockwave from my fist pulverized the lead monster on impact and kept going, smashing straight through the café wall.
I gaped at the perfectly circular hole in the wall.
“Holy shit...”
This was the Stat Cheat...?
I couldn’t believe I’d caused this, staring blankly—when something tapped my back.
‘Huh?’
It felt like a blunt end prodding my back, so I turned around to see a monster with a horrified expression stumbling backward.
It clutched a crude dagger.
“Oh... you stabbed me?”
But even the stab hadn’t pierced my skin.
‘Whoa, that was close... where’d it even get that?’
I had the Stat Cheat, sure, but blades still looked risky.
No matter how tough your body, sharp things could still cut, right?
Yet a normal person would’ve been stabbed in the back and died pathetically. Even caught off guard, the blade hadn’t penetrated a single millimeter.
My clothes might’ve gotten a tear, at most.
- Gruk, grararak?
Terrified that its full-force stab hadn’t worked, the monster’s face twisted in fear.
“Wonder if this works too?”
I flicked my finger lightly.
- Grarak?!
Whoosh! Kwang!
A nearby monster got blasted by the shock from my finger, slamming into the wall.
No need to check—it was dead.
- Grarak! Greeeeek!!
The remaining monster screeched and bolted out of the café.
Letting it go could cause problems, so I reached out to grab it—but then lowered my hand.
‘They’ll handle it themselves...’
Heroes would be on the way anyway.
And this was confirmation enough...
“...How strong am I, exactly?”
This went beyond just “stronger.”
It was straight out of a movie or anime...
‘In games, no matter how high your stats, it just changes the damage output...’
Games didn’t have shockwaves amplifying with strength or bigger aftershocks.
But with the Cheat’s overwhelming stats in reality, it produced absurd results.
“Hoo...”
I let out a sigh as the tension eased—when something round caught my eye in my peripheral vision.
Right.
‘CCTV...?!’
There was CCTV.
Meaning everything I’d just done was recorded.
‘Oh... fuck...’
This was bad...
Any way to wipe it?
If the owner hadn’t seen it yet, that’d be lucky. But if they checked the footage to see what happened, they’d catch me monster-slaying and accidentally hole-punching the wall.
‘Uh...’
Might not be able to hide this...?
Thud, thud.
“Ah...”
As I agonized over the CCTV, someone entered the café.
She had long light-green hair and wore a skintight suit that accentuated her figure.
Her outfit screamed hero.
She scanned the surroundings, spotted me, and spoke.
“Are you alright? I came right away after hearing about the unidentified lifeform here. Ah, I’m A-Rank Hero Kinesis. You’re safe now.”
“Ah, yeah...”
“Where are the enemies...”
Muttering as she looked around, Kinesis’s expression hardened.
“Did you do this?”
“Ah, no... I’m Powerless...”
“Ah... sorry. Did someone else come and go already?”
“Yeah... these monsters suddenly burst in, and I thought I was done for, but...”
I pointed at the wall I’d smashed earlier.
“They broke through that wall, took out all the monsters, and left...”
“...”
Even after my explanation, Kinesis eyed me suspiciously.
Stare all you want—I had nothing to say.
I was registered as Powerless...
If you’re salty, blame this world that made me that way...
I’d tested as Powerless. Couldn’t exactly say I had powers now.
...
Wait a sec...
‘Should I have just said it was me?!’
Oh, shit.
Misjudged this?
I’d panicked about what might happen if my power got out, so I hid it. But actually, admitting I’d handled it with my strong superpower might’ve been better.
No?
Thinking it over, maybe not.
If I admitted to killing the monsters, it’d complicate things when they found out I was supposedly Powerless during the cleanup.
Better to force the “ordinary person” angle.
But that meant she couldn’t suspect me...
“...I understand. For now, please follow the heroes outside for evacuation. It’s still dangerous here.”
“Yes... th-thank you...”
“And... could you describe that person who was just here?”
“Ah...”
This wasn’t a casual question.
It was loaded with intent.
A proper answer gives info on my “savior”; a weird one confirms it’s me.
Bluntly saying I was suspicious.
I answered as naturally as possible to deflect suspicion.
“Uh... I don’t remember well... It all happened so fast, I didn’t get a good look.”
“...”
Her suspicious gaze deepened.
Why look at me like that...?
A normal person might see it that way.
“...Got it. Evacuate first—it’s dangerous.”
“Yessir...”
Damn, what do I do about that?
Now I had to worry about erasing the CCTV and shaking off her doubts.
Ah, man...
I swallowed tears inwardly and evacuated, still agonizing over it all.