I'm Not a Hero, Though (10)
“I’ll... kill...”
Stubborn bastard.
My plan to shake him off somewhere and dig a trap went sideways right from the start.
How the hell was this giant squeezing through such narrow spots?
Sure, he had the raw power to smash everything in his path, but it was still a massive pain in my ass.
Even the tiniest miscalculation could get me killed.
I ducked low.
A vicious whoosh sliced through the air right above my head.
It turned into a earth-shaking boom that blocked my path ahead.
Fuck, that's scary!
Did he just hurl a boulder the size of a person?
Chills ran down my spine as I veered sharply.
Toward the narrow ruins where no one lived.
Luckily, the Swamp Zone had plenty of those.
This was still a place where people lived, after all—they all huddled in the center as best they could.
At least the basic infrastructure held up.
Heading to the ruins also minimized any risk to civilians.
Quaker would've charged straight into the heart of the city if it gave him an edge, civilians be damned.
But my conscience wouldn't let me.
What did they ever do to deserve this?
This was between me and this freak. We'd settle it ourselves.
...So, I slipped into the deserted ruins.
To my relief, the bastard followed, bulldozing his way in.
Now it was time to make him suffer.
I took a deep breath, kicked off the wall, and launched upward.
Like a video game character wall-jumping between both sides.
In reality, it was a trick using attraction and repulsion forces.
But who cared about that now.
I landed lightly on the rooftop and looked down at him.
“Damn, you look huge even from the roof of a five-story building.”
How the hell had that thing been hiding inside a human body?
Tongue clicking at the sight of him howling up at me, I wondered how long he'd last.
He couldn't keep that form forever.
Body transformations like that burned through calories and nutrients—and the bigger the change, the faster the drain.
Sure, he could push it by sacrificing organs.
But in this rampage? His guts would start shredding in no more than ten minutes.
Then it'd be my win by default.
“Good call luring him to the ruins.”
The building shuddered.
He was clawing his way up, grinding the wall to dust.
“Did I talk too much shit?”
His feral glare made me reflexively regret it.
I sighed. Even for him, there were limits—if there was nothing to grab, he couldn't climb.
And true to their name, these ruins were mostly unstable.
A normal adult guy like me? No problem.
But a gorilla-sized monster smashing around? The buildings wouldn't hold.
Just look at those cracks on the roof.
Time to pull up the ladder.
I raised my foot and stomped the roof twice.
Full-power repulsion infused in each hit.
Normally, it wouldn't collapse a building.
But now? It was already cracked to hell.
One good shock in this state...
“Get crushed with the building, you snake fuck.”
The ancient structure, clinging to life in the corner of the Swamp Zone for decades, began to tilt.
And that was fatal for Salmu-sa.
It was toppling right toward where he clung.
Falling from dozens of meters was bad enough, but the collapsing mass on top? No monster that size could walk away unscathed.
...No time to gloat—I had to bounce.
Like a hard-boiled movie hero, I sprinted across the roof and leaped to the next building.
The gap was too wide.
Gravity powers filled it.
Stuck to the wall with attraction force, I clambered straight up to the neighboring roof.
The quake-like vibrations nearly shook me off midway, but I made it safely.
...Couldn't see shit from up here through all the dust.
A concrete relic potentially over a century old had just pancaked a guy, kicking up all the dust it'd hoarded.
I leaned against the railing and waited for it to clear.
Please let this end it.
This was already a huge mess.
Even in an empty zone, this much noise meant cleanup headaches.
I peered down desperately as the dust finally settled over the ruins.
Then a roar hit my ears.
“Persistent much?”
An elephant would've dropped dead. Come on.
Sighing, I ripped out a rusty railing with my powers—best weapon handy.
Rusty or not, it'd pierce flesh fine.
Shaping it into a short spear, I jumped off the roof.
Suicide for a normie, but I'm an ability user.
Falling feet-first, I stuck my soles to the wall with attraction and slid down vertically, landing safely.
“Hmm.”
Tough to pinpoint from down here.
Somewhere in that rubble pile.
I climbed atop it, homing in on the roaring.
“!)*(@#&!#(*!”
Up close, I could guess.
That way.
I walked toward the noise and stared at the one protruding arm.
“...Still moving, huh.”
Mangled. Shattered bones jutting out, fingers swollen—total wreck.
The arm itself was crushed red from the insane weight.
“...Tough son of a bitch.”
I jammed the rusty spear into a gap.
Then—
Repulsion force shoved it home in one blast.
Vibrations rattled my hands, accompanied by the wet tear of flesh.
“!*@&!(*$#&(!!”
I felt it sink into his body.
“One won't cut it...”
One.
Another.
I stabbed six in total, then sat on a nearby rock to catch my breath.
His roars were fading. Soon, the last spark would die.
“Sigh. How am I gonna fix up the shop...”
Truth be told, half-killing him and extorting cash would've been ideal.
But I couldn't subdue him yet. Needed training once life stabilized.
And snag a communicator for Mina's backup.
As for Seolhwa... honestly, I just wanted her to grow up normal.
Her power's too freakish.
Better off powerless than wielding that. The world doesn't require it anyway.
So...
Fuck.
The ground trembled—I blasted myself away with repulsion just in time.
Bones erupted right where I'd sat. And somehow, he shoved off the concrete mound and rose.
“I’ll... kill...”
“At this point, wouldn't it be polite to just die?”
His body shrank gradually.
Finally out of juice for that bulk, huh.
Back to something like his original form, he glared at me on his knees.
“Damn... you...”
“How's it feel getting fleeced by that damn guy?”
“Ha...”
Speechless with rage?
I squatted at a safe distance.
No way he could hurt me now.
“Weak... pathetic...”
“Life's like that.”
“Just... one... thing...”
“What?”
Me? Questions?
I gave him a puzzled look, and he rasped it out between gasps.
“How... do you... know my past?”
“This is a novel, and you're a character.”
Pure, unvarnished truth.
But he glared with pure fury.
“...Lies... to the end...”
“Believe it or not, your call.”
I wasn't lying. Up to him if he bought it.
“Ha...”
His head drooped, body slumping forward.
Whew.
Finally over.
“...Time to head home and crash.”
Tell Seolhwa and Mina to hole up in a hotel for a bit.
Gonna cost a chunk, but the place needs repairs anyway.
Pockets getting lighter again.
Sighing, I yanked the spears from his corpse, grabbed him by the scruff, and left the ruins behind.