Overwhelm
Overwhelm. It meant being crushed by sheer power or suppressed by overwhelming presence. That was exactly the emotion Yoo Taejeong was feeling right now.
The unrealistic object before his eyes. No, it was a living creature. A rat. A colossal rat that had to be dozens of meters tall was glaring down at him.
"What the hell is this…?"
Unknown species not in the database.
"You're kidding me."
He had battled countless monsters, but the giant rat before him created such a massive sense of disconnect that it made him doubt his own eyes. This thing was big enough to make even the king octopus bow down. The problem was the perceptual size difference: the octopus he'd seen in a confined space versus this rat in a fully open area—the latter was overwhelmingly larger, like it could swallow the former whole.
Normally, he would charge in for an attack right away, but he couldn't even dream of it in this situation. The Japanese hunters in the rear were the same.
They were communicating almost at a telepathic level. It was absurd that their eye contact alone conveyed words, but in the face of death's terror, nothing was impossible. A storm-before-the-calm tension hung in the air.
Right then.
A sound shattered the silence.
Thud.
Everyone's heads snapped toward the source. It came from the rearmost position in the Japanese team group. Hinata, the team's youngest and only female hunter. Her brooch, dangling during the fight, had fallen to the ground.
Ikuzo shouted.
"Dodge!"
Before the echo faded, the giant rat let out a guttural roar and charged.
Taejeong, who had been prepared, spun his mech at maximum output. The hunters scattered in all directions, unleashing their prepared skills.
Pew pew! Bang! Pew pew pew! Pew pew, bang!
The five elemental magics exploded simultaneously, slamming into the beast's body. But its massive size made even area-of-effect spells look pathetic. And they did nothing.
"It's not working at all?"
"You didn't expect that? Keep attacking!"
As the Japanese hunters hammered the front, Taejeong cranked his flamethrower to a 70-degree angle from the left. An immense inferno erupted from the raised barrel, engulfing the giant rat's form in an instant.
The beast's colossal body burst into flames, and Ikuzo and several hunters' faces lit up.
"Did we get it?"
The roaring blaze hid its entire existence. It felt like a finishing blow.
But it was just their wishful thinking.
With a roar, the rat blew away the flames without a trace and charged at them.
"No, fuck. We attacked from over there—why's it coming at us…?!"
While the giant rat chased the Japanese hunters, Taejeong provided covering fire from the rear with his Vulcan cannon.
Tatang! Tatang! Ta-ta-ta-ta-!
Over a thousand rounds per minute pelted its back. The light-speed barrage seemed like it would pierce right through. But to the rat, it was just a massage.
'Not even a scratch?'
The giant rat's defense was insane. Not just the Vulcan's rapid fire—even that mighty flamethrower hadn't singed a single hair. For the first time, Taejeong had no choice but to pull out his trump card.
"Switching to Cheonryong-1."
He immediately pulled back distance and summoned the multiple rocket launcher. Thirty-six majestic barrels materialized above his head.
"Load full standard rounds."
Loading complete.
"Fire."
At his command, rockets launched in sequence from the upper 24 barrels. Aimed at its side.
Whoosh!
The first rocket struck its flank with terrifying speed, exploding. Boom! The cave shook. The second and third followed, chaining explosions, and all 24 rockets hit in a flash.
The impact was so massive that the giant rat, targeting the Japanese team, staggered sideways and vanished into the rising smoke.
Ikuzo and the others, witnessing it, exclaimed in unison despite their shock.
"Did we get it?"
It was firepower strong enough to overpower a Grade 3 large-type monster. The hit area had to be shredded to pieces by now.
But again, wishful thinking.
The rat emerged from the smoke, pristine as ever. Untouched.
"Insane. It survived that explosion?"
"We can't win this…"
As the Japanese team despaired in disbelief, Taejeong calmly prepared a second strike.
"Load guided missiles."
Loaded.
"Target: its head."
Coordinates set.
"Fire."
The lower 12 barrels fired rockets in turn. They slammed dead-on into its massive head with ferocious momentum.
Kaboom!
Another earth-shaking explosion. But this attack failed too.
"Reload as soon as cooldown's up."
Understood.
If the head didn't work, only one spot left. Blow it up from the inside.
Loading complete.
"Target: inside its mouth. Fire when I signal."
Understood.
Taejeong sprayed Vulcan fire to draw its aggro, then commanded Gerard the moment it turned.
"Now."
Whoosh!
Rockets flew toward the gaping maw. Perfect timing—the missiles dove straight into its throat, detonating with a head-ringing blast.
Kaboom! Boom! Kaboom!
Smoke billowed, shrouding the cavern again. Ikuzo and Massage-ma clenched their fists.
"We got it!"
Unlike their confident cheers, Taejeong's expression soured. No death notification.
Proof it was still alive. As expected, the rat emerged unscathed.
"Even that didn't work? Is its insides made of steel?"
Its weakness—shared by most monsters—failed. Head, mouth: unimaginable defense throughout.
Was this the level gap he'd only heard about? Taejeong, facing this for the first time, was stunned. Weapons that never failed were dropping like flies.
Iron Spear was all that remained, but it probably wouldn't work either. Damage wasn't that much higher than Cheonryong-1.
'Did I come too soon? Should've leveled more…'
As he muttered, something massive hurtled toward him. He veered right, but too late.
Crash!
His mech slammed into the wall. Regaining senses, he saw its tail raised high.
"Forgot about the tail. Gerard, mech status?"
72%. Right arm damaged—unusable for next 3 minutes.
"Fine. Wasn't using the launcher anyway. Speaking of… that's disgusting."
Taejeong grimaced at the blatantly exposed asshole, now visible after the tail swung aside.
"Close that shit, you fuck. Who told you to flash your dirty hole?"
Energy rounds hammered its asshole. A reflexive swing, but the reaction was good.
Kraaang-! Krang!
The rat thrashed wildly. Taejeong's Vulcan lit up again.
Tatang! Ta-ta-ta-ta-!
Kraaaang-! Krang! Kkakang!
Bucking everywhere, blood now poured from its ass. Taejeong's face brightened.
"This fucker—asshole's the weak spot."
From then on, he targeted only the ass. The Japanese team caught on too.
"The ass! Its ass is the weak point! Everyone, pull aggro! Let that Korean guy strike. Tail—target the tail!"
The joint assault began. The rat tried shielding its ass with its tail but couldn't ignore the suicidal Japanese hunters.
Even without damage, instinct forced movement. Each time, its ass exposed—energy rounds pounded the hole endlessly.
After more hits, its movements slowed noticeably. Time to end it.
"Cooldown up?"
Affirmative. Reloading.
"Target: its asshole."
Target set.
"Last shot."
The rocket plunged into the tattered ass.
Boom!
With a roar, its body slumped to the ground.
You have defeated the 300-year-old native rat.
Acquired 22,000,000 EXP.
"Finally…"
His relief was short-lived. Something burst from the slumped corpse, shooting into the air.
'That thing…'
Initially brownish, it shimmered and faded from view. Instinctively, Taejeong summoned Iron Spear.
"Hey, radar pick up what just flew off?"
Not on radar… detected.
"Fire."
The missile rocketed skyward. At a specific point, it detonated with a boom—the long-awaited notification chimed.
You have defeated the mutant parasite.
Acquired 1 EXP.
Quest completed.
Bio-Cloaking skill unlocked.
H-Type Cheonmu Multi-Barrel Concentrated Guided Missile skill unlocked.
Check new quest.
"Ha. Cleared it."
He exhaled, his body slumping sideways. Relief from slaying the monster, pride in achieving his goal. Emotions flooded in, tension melting away in an instant.
Had there been a battle this grueling since becoming a hunter? First time since the Red Hole with Han Seol-ah. Feeling this powerless.
Especially the final parasite—pure luck, an uncanny judgment call. Almost pure instinct.
And that was most important to him. The whole reason he'd crossed the sea.
'Almost missed it. Spotting and acting in that split second… this is why you keep fighting. You grow, even if you don't realize it.'