Chapter 168
Its torso was incredibly broad, its arms disproportionately long, dangling all the way down past its knees. In one massive hand, it clutched a thick wooden club. The hulking ape must have weighed several tons at least. As it charged forward, pounding the ground with that club—thud, thud—the earth itself trembled beneath its steps.
Swinging the club in a wide arc, it smashed into the side of a beast towering five meters tall. The creature went flying mercilessly, skidding across the ground at least four or five meters. Incredible power.
Thwack, thwack—the impacts rang out in quick succession as two more massive beasts crumpled under the club's fury. One hit, one kill. These behemoths, weighing anywhere from five hundred kilos to two or three tons, all dropped lifeless from a single blow. It was superhuman strength, nothing less.
"Grraaah..."
The giant ape lumbered over to the twitching carcasses—huge beasts felled by its club—emitting a guttural growl. It paused to eye one briefly, then raised the club high and brought it down with a vicious thud, thud, finishing it off. The other two met the same merciless end, battered to death without pity. Brutal. No mercy whatsoever. That club, easily three hundred kilos of solid wood, crushed the life out of them utterly.
It was an absolute monster.
But the shock didn't end there. The thing had only one eye on its face. After slaughtering the three beasts, it turned back with a satisfied grunt, revealing a single enormous eye dominating its visage—larger than two normal eyes combined. That massive eyeball swiveled this way and that, scanning its surroundings. Below it sat a huge pug nose, and a jagged maw bared savage fangs.
Han Yaseong gaped, mouth agape. Yadori trembled beside him, paralyzed by terror.
And those giant ape-like horrors weren't alone. Too stunned to think, Han Yaseong unwittingly poked his head out from the bushes for a better look. There, behind the plain, were five or six more. They stood around ten meters tall, the smaller ones—perhaps juveniles—seven or eight meters. Still giants, every one. Base weight three or four tons apiece. Shoulders and chests like gorillas or orangutans, arms and thighs thick as tree trunks.
As they bounded about, clubs in hand, it felt like watching three- or four-story buildings on the move. For a split second, Han Yaseong thought this couldn't be real. It was like staring at a 3D animation. Even on an alien planet, ancient ape-men like these shouldn't exist. These were straight-up monstrosities. Maybe Earth in its primordial dawn, or the dinosaur age, had birthed such things—but seeing them with his own eyes made reality feel unreal.
How could anyone fight creatures like that and win? Even a tank wouldn't stand a chance. A fighter-bomber, maybe. One stomp from those enormous feet would crumple a tank or armored vehicle flat.
Having finished their hunt, the monsters grabbed a leg from each fallen mega-herbivore and dragged them off. As they vanished into the hills after a long trek, the plain fell into dead silence, as if nothing had happened. The scattered beasts didn't return.
Han Yaseong was speechless. Was this a dream? A savage predator, sure, he'd accept that—but tool-using ape-men? Too big, too powerful. They'd smashed those colossal herbivores without a second thought. It felt like he'd been dropped into the prehistoric era.
Glancing at Yadori, he saw the creature still quaking in abject fear. Animals sensed that terror more keenly.
"Yadori, let's go..."
Han Yaseong rose, but his legs wobbled. The shock had been too much. There was no beating those things. Better to face a straight-up Tyranno. Even that seemed weaker. No—even a Tyranno's skull would shatter from one club swing.
Years of training had honed Han Yaseong's instincts; he could gauge an opponent's strength like a master spotting another. Those giant apes clocked in at least a million combat power per head. Conservatively a million, maybe two or three. Tigers, bears, lions from the other world? Punches to them. They'd squash a croc flat in one step.
And in a pack? Their power multiplied exponentially. They hunted as a group, no doubt living communally somewhere.
A chill raced down Han Yaseong's spine, cold sweat soaking him through. At a mere two to three hundred thousand combat power, he was nothing compared. Charge them, and that massive club would pulverize him, sending his remains flying dozens of meters. Yadori wouldn't last against hundreds swarming. These were beings from another dimension entirely.
Even a real Tyranno dinosaur wouldn't have shocked him this much. The single eye made it worse—that black orb, a third of the face, darting left and right. Nightmare fuel.
Drained, Han Yaseong slung the ostrich bird's legs over his back and trudged limply back to camp. Yadori, hit hard by the trauma, collapsed into bed the moment they arrived—like a chick glimpsing a tiger. Instinct made the one-day pup fear the tiger. Yadori, facing something a hundred times stronger, must have despaired. No knife could touch them.
It hadn't flinched at those huge herbivores before, but this one-eyed giant? It lay there broken, like a terminal illness.
Han Yaseong felt the same limp exhaustion. Ten years of training wouldn't cut it. A century, useless. Without Superman-level powers, beating ten-meter titans was impossible.
Appetite gone, he skipped dinner. He and Yadori just lay there, spirits crushed—like facing an enemy million-strong army.
Morning brought no relief. A restless night left him bloated and aching. Yadori sprawled like the dead, utterly dejected. Made sense. It had fancied itself top of the local food chain. Out in the big world? Just a pup. Pocket change next to those giants. Too small even to hunt; to them, Yadori was a grasshopper.
Han Yaseong was no different. Scamper in front, they'd see a mouse. The size gap was insane. Fighting them was like charging a tank with a sword. No contest. Tigers or lions, maybe—but these? Unthinkable.
Sighing from his bedroll, hunger finally won out. He grabbed yesterday's ostrich legs—kept fresh in a cold hole deep in the shelter—and headed to the stream. Gutted and rinsed clean, he skewered them on a long branch and propped them by the fire.
Sizzling over the flames, the savory aroma wafted up. Yadori, moping on the ground, perked its nose, sniffing eagerly.
Han Yaseong's mouth watered too. Heart heavy from the giants, but his body demanded fuel. Once the legs were done, he split them and tore in ravenously with Yadori.
Chewing the tough meat sparked a slow-burning rage. Why cower from those oversized apes? Combat spirit flickered back to life. Fear ebbed, guts threatening to spill out again.
But picturing those behemoths deflated him instantly—body shrinking, even his dick retreating. King Kong from the movies. And not one or two—a pride of ten, dozens maybe. Club-wielding intelligence too. Piss them off, get mobbed, and survival here ended.
Han Yaseong needed overwhelming power. Superhuman enough to crush even those titans. Without it, exploring the planet was suicide. He'd last a day, tops.
"Yadori. You got anything to make us insanely strong? Like, beat those monsters?"
Munching ostrich meat, he eyed Yadori. The creature paused mid-tear with its chick-like teeth, gripping chunks in both hands. Something was there, alright.