World Destruction (2)
We arrived at some abandoned factory following him. The place was long bankrupt—nothing worked anymore. Except for one thing: the conveyor belt.
On top of that conveyor belt, bizarre creatures were crawling out.
"Did you get taken down by those?"
"Yeah, they overwhelmed us with sheer numbers."
There was nothing wrong with the conveyor belt itself. The problem was that box it was feeding from. The creatures were crawling out from inside that box, riding the belt.
"They don't look like much."
"Looks can be deceiving. Those things could beat a tiger to death."
Things the size of a foot could do that?
"Let's clean them up quick."
Snap! I put some real force into flicking my finger.
Demonic Energy instantly flooded the surroundings.
Snap! The second flick, and the spreading Demonic Energy began taking shape, bit by bit.
In mere seconds, hundreds of spears materialized. They tore through everything indiscriminately—the grotesque creatures, the conveyor belt, even the mystery box.
Less than thirty seconds later, everything in the factory was obliterated.
"All done."
"Uh... yeah."
The conveyor belt had ground to a halt. The abandoned factory was trashed beyond repair, but hey, no one was using it anyway.
This guy's pretty strong for a human, though.
Come to think of it, hadn't Jin Woo-jin barely lost to those infinite-regenerating tigers? Was it some Association ability? How could someone without mana manipulation get that strong?
"Anyway, for the next week, I just roam Seoul hunting Monsters, right?"
"Yes, that's it."
"No need to report every kill?"
"None at all."
I nodded at the answer. Freedom guaranteed, then.
"Alright, head out. I'll be wandering all over from now on."
"Yes... good luck."
Jin Woo-jin staggered off at my words. What I had was regeneration, not healing. Yoo Hwa got patched up by the Association, not me. Better to send him back quick—for his own health. Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn't passed out from blood loss already.
I pulled up a map on my phone and said to Yoo Hwa,
"Yoo Hwa, we're going on a week-long trip."
"I'm not that dumb. You're going around hunting Monsters, right?"
Sharp as ever.
First, I'd start from the northern edge of Seoul and work my way down. No point rushing around randomly—better to methodically sweep from the outskirts inward.
And so we reached Dobong-gu.
"Yoo Hwa, calling it a trip isn't wrong."
Association intel said Monsters were spawning like crazy right now. No need to hunt them down—they'd pop up just wandering around. Especially for someone like me, who'd attract them like flies to shit.
So what to do?
"We sightsee, and whenever Monsters show up, we kill 'em. Easy."
"Is that really okay?"
"You gotta roam far and wide to find Monsters anyway. Might as well make it fun."
I answered Yoo Hwa's worried remark.
"Plus, where Monsters appear is dangerous for people, right? Places with crowds. Hit those hard, and the Association's job gets easier."
"Ah, yeah."
Yoo Hwa nodded like she'd bought it.
"Anyway, let's go. Got a hotel booked."
"Where?"
"Gangbuk-gu."
Her eyes went wide at that.
"We'll hit Nowon-gu today, then head to Gangbuk-gu."
"That's too much moving around!"
"Gotta scour every corner of Seoul in a week. Hurry up!"
I dragged the whining Yoo Hwa along and bolted.
"M-my... my body... won't move..."
"Quit whining. You'd be fine running from one end of Seoul to the other."
We checked into the hotel at 1 a.m.
There's a shit-ton of them.
Today's zones: three districts—Dobong-gu, Nowon-gu, Gangbuk-gu. Guess how many Monster incidents we cleared?
250 cases.
That's just the count of incidents. Didn't even tally individual kills. Worth every bit of that 200 billion won commission. Hell, even I was a little fatigued.
Wanted to snoop on Association stuff too, but no dice.
My plan was to hunt Monsters and dig into the Association. But with this many Monsters? All focus went into clearing them. Insane volume.
It proved their info control hadn't fully collapsed yet.
If it had, panic would've hit worldwide already.
If the Association's grip slipped completely, the globe would be in chaos over this madness. So yeah, a few internet posts slipping through? No biggie. They'd be too busy clamping down on mass media.
Just what's going on with this world?
At this point, even I was getting worried. Felt like actual doomsday signs. The Association seemed to be prepping like mad for something too.
"Hoo..."
I sighed deeply and stepped out onto the balcony. High floor in a fancy hotel—city lights sparkled beautifully.
"What the fuck is that."
It was crystal clear. Human eyes couldn't catch it, but mine? Perfect view.
Far off in an alley: fifteen cloaked figures huddled together. Shady as hell. Leave 'em be, and they'd cause trouble.
Those coordinates...
No time for exact coords. Rough distance from here, eyeball it.
Somewhere around there?
I approximated and flicked my finger. Darkness swallowed my vision.
Miss.
Maybe stuck in ground or wall.
Here goes.
I twisted my body, forcing open space.
Krunch!
The wall I'd been embedded in crumbled, my body shattering into chunks.
Ah.
Regenerated amid the debris, I noted: botched teleport merges you with the obstacle. No wonder other mages were so cautious.
—W-what are you?!
—What the fuck...!
I turned. The cloaked figures stared in horror.
To me, no big deal. To them? Pure terror. Wall collapses, mangled corpse regenerates in seconds.
"What are you guys?"
Knowing their angle, I shoved hands in pockets and loomed confidently.
"Everyone, stay calm!"
The apparent leader stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
Polite enough.
"The Demon King."
"De... Demon King?"
The face under the hood twitched. Didn't compute.
"Doesn't matter if you don't know. Just remember: Demon King."
"Understood... So which god do you worship?"
"God?"
"Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu, Dagon... you know."
What the hell? Oh, I got it—those cosmic entities from the Cthulhu Mythos.
"Aren't those just fictional gods from novels? You worship that?"
"Hah!"
The man sighed in dismay.
"Knew you weren't one of us."
"I'm here to catch you assholes. What're you on about? Ah... left my phone."
I ignored his nonsense, reached for my pocket to snap a pic—empty. Sigh. Good thing, too; it would've smashed when I got stuck.
"Can ask the Association later. You're that group or whatever, right?"
"Association scum!"
"More like contractor."
The cloaks assumed stances.
"Prepare yourself! Vermin blocking the gods' revival..."
"Uh, explain."
Necks rolled on the floor. Of the fifteen who rushed me, twelve were dead. Just the leader and two grunts left.
"S-so... The gods from what's called the 'Cthulhu Mythos' in the public eye? They're real."
"For real?"
I sat on the ground, hooked by the juicy info.
"The Association fears the truth spreading, so they dismiss it as myth."
"News to me."
Those mythos gods wield insane power. Normals go mad just glimpsing them. I could mimic it somewhat, but not that level.
"We Outer God cultists aim to resurrect them in this world..."
"Why?"
"Worshippers like us get to rule the world."
Blunt as fuck.
"Don't some gods kill their own followers?"
"W-we don't worship those."
Discriminating now.
"So the Association stops you from reviving these Outer Gods?"
"Yes... We succeeded once, actually."
"You pulled it off before?"
I blinked. Wouldn't that end the game?
"Association labeled it a 1st Grade Monster right away, threw everything at it, and killed it. After that, our group got S-rank designation—top priority for extermination."
What the fuck does the Association even do?
They took it down?
"B-but lately, signals of a new god's revival. No need for us—it's descending on its own."
"What?"
My eyes widened. Was that what the Association was prepping for?
"Who is it?"
"..."
He hesitated, then spoke.
"That one is..."