Chapter 37
Chapter 37
—Owner of a Workshop in a Ruined World—
Swoosh!
A chilling sound of air splitting.
A black shadow burst out of the darkness, lunging straight for Karambit’s neck.
It was an ambush that would have taken the head off an ordinary Awakened before they could even react.
But Karambit didn’t even turn his head.
As if it were a nuisance, he simply swung his arm backward.
The twin-bladed karambit in his hand carved a strange arc through the air.
Slice.
There was no heavy impact.
Only the sickening sound of flesh being cleanly divided.
The shadow that had leapt into the air split neatly in two and crashed to the ground without even managing to scream.
Thud. Thud.
Entrails and blood spilled from the severed cross-section, staining the asphalt.
The thing lying on the ground was neither monster nor assassin.
It was simply a somewhat large [Contaminated Wild Dog].
“What the hell?”
Karambit flicked the blood from his blade in annoyance.
Perhaps drawn by the scent of blood,
three or four more wild dogs burst out from the collapsed hotel wall and the flowerbed crevices.
Grrrr…
Instinctively they knew the human before them was powerful, yet hunger drove them forward anyway.
But they had chosen the wrong prey.
After bringing down Balkan, Karambit’s momentum was at its peak.
Creatures at this level couldn’t even serve as warm-up opponents.
Flash—
His figure blurred.
The wild dogs snapped at empty air in confusion.
By the time they realized it, Karambit was already behind them.
Yelp!
A moment later, all four dogs collapsed simultaneously, blood spraying from their bodies.
One strike, one kill.
Karambit kicked the fallen dogs aside and glared toward the hotel entrance.
That pig bastard… his management is a mess.
Even if the place was under siege, letting wild dogs wander into the main lobby of the base?
Which means the situation inside must be that desperate.
Karambit curled his lips into a crooked smile.
“Oh…”
Inside the workshop,
I let out a quiet murmur of admiration as I watched through the monitor.
He was definitely strong.
Not just fast—his movements were optimized for killing.
Then Picker’s excited voice burst from the speaker beside the monitor.
[Boss! Did you see that movement just now?!]
“I saw it. He’s fast.”
[No, it’s not just fast! Let me break the footage down frame by frame!]
The screen switched.
The moment Karambit killed Balkan—and the moment he sliced the wild dogs—began replaying at 0.01x speed.
Just before Karambit swung his blade,
the muscles in his arm and shoulder bulged violently.
It looked grotesque, as if something inside his skin had exploded outward.
[Here! Right here!]
Picker projected a red graph onto the screen.
[His muscle contraction speed is more than three times that of a normal E-grade physical enhancement Awakened! The kinetic energy is multiplying exponentially!]
“Hmm.”
[Even faster than when that D-grade guy Balkan threw the bomb earlier. In terms of instantaneous speed, this is at least C-grade… maybe higher!]
Acceleration that ignored the laws of physics.
A movement that looked like the body’s limiters were being forcibly removed.
I rubbed my chin.
“Yeah… at that level, he might even be able to pierce Pig’s [Steel Skin].”
A clash of spear and shield.
The most entertaining spectacle there was.
“Record everything. If those two fight, it’ll be extremely valuable data.”
[Of course! If we release this on the black market, it’ll explode!]
“Selling it openly would be the problem.”
First record it. The rest could be figured out later.
Meanwhile, the situation on screen was changing.
Karambit’s Royal Guard gathered beside him.
Elite soldiers wearing gas masks, holding blood-stained axes and rifles.
“Move in!”
Karambit took the lead.
Normally a ballistic shield would go first, but after defeating Balkan his confidence had skyrocketed.
He strode straight to the hotel entrance and kicked the twisted revolving door aside.
Crash!
Glass shattered and the hotel entrance burst open.
The moment Karambit stepped onto the marble floor of the lobby with his mud-covered boots—
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Gunfire erupted from the darkness inside the lobby.
An ambush.
“Argh!”
“Spread out! Take cover!”
Two Royal Guard members who had been following him were shot in the shoulder and thigh and collapsed.
Karambit dove quickly behind a massive pillar near the entrance.
Clang! Ting! Tink!
Bullets chipped away chunks of marble, scattering debris.
Second-floor balcony.
Above the chandelier.
Behind the reception desk.
Pig’s private soldiers were firing from hiding spots like rats.
But Karambit didn’t panic.
“Conserve ammo! Every bullet costs money!”
He pulled a [Smoke Grenade] from his vest.
“Trash like this—I can handle them alone!”
He was clearly planning to deploy smoke and use his unique ability [Acceleration] to penetrate their formation.
“Tsk… the fight’s going to happen inside.”
My Honeybee drones were hovering outside the hotel.
If Karambit went inside, I’d miss the decisive moment.
But sending drones directly through the front entrance would expose them to the Wolves guarding the doorway.
“What should I do?”
Then Picker shouted confidently.
[Boss! Leave it to me! Who said we have to go through the front door?!]
“What?”
[I already scanned the entire building!]
Picker displayed a 3D wireframe map of the hotel.
Broken windows.
Ventilation ducts.
Drain pipes.
Tiny openings were marked with red dots.
[Infiltration routes secured!]
“Good. Don’t get spotted.”
The moment I gave approval, the Honeybee drones moved simultaneously.
Their tiny motors were completely drowned out by the battlefield noise.
Five entered through broken second-floor windows.
Three slipped into the restroom ventilation shafts.
The rest crawled through the ceiling drainage pipes.
Like a trained special forces unit,
the Honeybees infiltrated the hotel interior in seconds.
[Switching camera feed.]
Flash—
The dark hotel lobby appeared clearly.
Against the bluish background, red and yellow heat signatures glowed vividly.
Thermal / infrared mode.
Enemies hiding behind pillars, beneath staircases, even inside ceiling structures—
dozens of ambushers appeared as clearly as if it were daytime.
[Multiple biological signatures detected. Armed targets confirmed! 24 rifles, 5 shotguns, 4 machine guns. There are also mines, Boss!]
Charging in there would be suicide.
“Wow…”
I leaned back in my chair, letting out a dry laugh.
Once again I felt how absurd my ability was.
Sitting safely inside the workshop,
watching everything unfold like a god.
Information asymmetry.
That might be a far more terrifying weapon than combat strength itself.
“Picker.”
[Yes, Boss!]
“Hit record. The real show starts now.”
Instead of popcorn, I grabbed a smoked blade-beak chicken drumstick.
On the screen, Karambit pulled the pin from a smoke grenade.
Showtime.
Hiss—
Two canisters rolled across the floor, releasing thick gray smoke.
The lobby instantly plunged into chaos.
“Cough! I can’t see!”
“Aagh!”
“Where are they?! Watch out!”
Pig’s mercenaries panicked, firing blindly into the smoke.
But soon they began clutching their throats and collapsing.
The shooters hiding on the second-floor railing fell like autumn leaves.
With [Acceleration] activated, Karambit moved faster than a shadow.
“Move in!”
Before the smoke even cleared, the gas-masked Royal Guard stormed the lobby.
Trained by Karambit and hardened by countless battles, they already knew the enemy’s positions.
They calmly opened precise return fire.
Bang! Bang!
“Argh!”
Under the bites of well-trained hunting hounds, Pig’s soldiers collapsed helplessly.
Within moments, the first floor of the lobby was secured.
Karambit flicked the blood from his twin blades and looked upward.
“Pig bastard! Wash your neck and wait! I’m coming up to cut it myself!”
The roar of a victor echoed through the hotel.
But the man watching from the third-floor balcony behind thick bulletproof glass showed no panic.
Director Oh calmly touched his in-ear receiver.
“Chairman. The first defensive line has collapsed. The rats have entered the living room.”
[Release them.]
“Yes, understood.”
Without hesitation, Director Oh pulled a red lever mounted on the wall.
“Open the breeding pens. Feeding time.”
Rumble—
The entire hotel shook like an earthquake.
“What…?”
Karambit and the Wolves looked down toward the floor.
Creeeeeak—
The decorative fountain in the center of the lobby split open.
“Fall back!”
Sensing danger, Karambit shouted.
Below the shattered lobby floor, a basement level appeared.
From the darkness below, dozens of red eyes emerged alongside a nauseating rotten stench.
“Grrrr…”
“What the hell is that?!”
“Bark!”
Dozens of [Contaminated Wild Dogs] sprang upward from the underground like coiled springs.
The Wolves were startled by the sudden appearance of mutants, but Karambit remained calm.
“Don’t panic! Fall back while firing!”
Just as he ordered.
Wild dogs weren’t a major threat to elite raiders.
Karambit’s twin blades danced, and the Wolves’ rifles spat fire.
The dogs collapsed one after another.
“Hah! Is this your trump card?”
Karambit sneered.
Then—
Kiiiieeeek!
A grotesque shriek.
A pale humanoid mutant clung to the wall, licking its tongue.
“That’s…!”
An F-grade Named Mutant: [Wall-Climbing Ghoul].
And it wasn’t alone.
Dozens of Ghouls under its command swarmed down the walls into the lobby.
“Don’t just stand there! Shoot!”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Heavy footsteps thundered on the stairs.
From the darkness below emerged a massive creature with a grotesquely swollen abdomen.
A D-grade Named Mutant: [Acid Golem].
“ROAAAR!”
When it opened its mouth, a high-pressure stream of acid shot out like a fire hose.
Ssssss!
“AAAAH! My arm!”
Three Wolves members screamed as the acid struck them directly.
Their ballistic armor melted instantly, and the flesh beneath dripped like candle wax.
Karambit’s expression hardened.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
The wild dogs had only been an appetizer.
Hundreds of mutants poured out endlessly.
The hotel lobby instantly became a hellscape where humans and monsters collided.
At that moment,
the doors on the second floor opened.
Pig’s reinforcements appeared and began firing into the chaos below.
Rat-tat-tat!
But something was strange.
The mutants did not attack Pig’s men standing on the balcony right above them.
Even though they were within arm’s reach.
Instead, they ignored them as if they were invisible.
They targeted only Karambit and his men.
“Damn it! Why aren’t they biting those bastards?!”
Karambit shouted in disbelief as he decapitated a ghoul.
Anyone could tell this wasn’t natural.
“….”
Inside the workshop,
I leaned forward toward the monitor, staring at the bizarre phenomenon.
Picker was shouting beside me.
[Boss! This smells fishy! Mutants being picky eaters? That makes no scientific sense!]
“Yeah. There’s definitely a reason.”
On the monitor, the battlefield had turned into absolute chaos.
The Contaminated Wild Dogs and Acid Golems pouring from underground were clearly distinguishing friend from foe.
Or rather—
they were showing blatant favoritism.
Karambit’s Wolves were being torn apart,
while Pig’s soldiers firing beside them remained completely unharmed.
The monsters simply avoided them.
“Wait.”
In the corner of the screen, one of Pig’s subordinates pulled out a silver spray can from his belt.
Even while mutants were devouring corpses nearby,
he calmly sprayed the substance over his entire body.
“Picker. Zoom in.”
[Yes, Boss! Zooming in!]
[Queen Mutant Pheromone]
Grade: β-F
*A gas reproduced through alchemy from pheromones extracted from a mutant hive queen.
When applied, it disrupts biological signals, causing lower-rank mutants to recognize the user as either kin or a superior organism.*¹
I let out a dry laugh after reading the information window.
“Pig bastard… looks like he’s insanely rich.”