Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: The Reason I Became a Monster - 5
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Once upon a time, I didn't understand it.
The reason monsters roared with enemies right in front of them.
I thought it would be better to just charge in quickly if they had time for that.
But after becoming an Abomination, my thinking changed.
Power overflowed from my entire body.
The simplest way to unleash this energy was to scream.
I threw my chest wide open, mouth agape, and expelled the condensed energy within.
Kuooooh—!
It wasn't Ogre-level, but it was enough to thoroughly shake the cavern.
For some reason, it felt refreshing inside, but the people grew even more terrified.
A monster that deflected swords screaming—anyone who wasn't scared would be the weird one.
Amid the stench of blood, a faint whiff of urine wafted from someone who had pissed themselves.
I gestured to the people during the moment the two who had their swords deflected were staggering.
Go. Right now.
Hyung-jun hyung caught on to my rough intent and shouted to the people.
"Let's go! Out to the corridor!"
"R-right now?"
"Staying here will just get in the way!"
If it weren't for the dimensional barrier, Yuzuka's throat would have been sliced open.
The people didn't know that, but they nodded anyway and started fleeing in a group.
The two just clutched their wrists and watched blankly.
Were they too shocked?
I roared as I charged at them.
As the cavern subtly vibrated, the two became bloody messes under my fists.
But I didn't want to kill them.
I needed to extract points from them.
Ability Analysis had shown their points exceeded 30,000.
I planned to smash them enough to prevent resistance, revert to human form, and slowly drain them.
They couldn't withstand my brutal violence and ended up crawling on the floor.
At this point, they had no specs or traits left.
Unless they had recovery abilities like me, they'd have to wait for someone to rescue them.
Moments later, the 4-minute limit ended.
My eye level suddenly dropped, and immense pain and helplessness struck my entire body.
I gritted my teeth and hunched over.
This wasn't just exhaustion.
Even with the effect cut to 30%, it was this bad—what the hell did Seok-hyun go through at 100%?
I was newly amazed at the guy's toughness.
"Hoo..."
I stood up, feeling the cold air.
My vision was still shaky, but I could endure it.
Anyone else would be rolling on the floor by now.
"16,000 points. 15,000 points."
They flinched and trembled as I recited their points.
I pulled out two mithril blades and stabbed one between each of their legs.
"No time, so I'll keep it short. Hand over your points, and I'll spare your lives. Refuse, and you die, of course. Choose."
Then I yanked the mithril blades out and stabbed them into the ground near their groins.
"Hng!"
"Kk!"
The two freaked out and tried to back away from the blades, but the Elderwood ropes binding them made it impossible.
The Chinese guy, whose eyes had turned into black beads, swallowed hard and asked.
"Y-you'll really let us live...?"
Instead of answering, I put their shabby items up on the auction house.
Combined, they fetched 31,000 points—insanely expensive, but there were buyers, so no issue.
"I hate waiting the most. Buy them within 10 seconds, or I'll start by cutting off your dicks and then your limbs one by one."
They shuddered in terror as our eyes met.
"I-I'll buy! I'll buy!"
"Please, not the dick..."
"Buy them now."
They fumbled to open the auction house and bid on the items.
Adding to what I already had, that made 60,000 points.
Full belly without eating.
I opened the Dimensional Prison.
I punched their faces, then kicked their bodies in.
"Grk!"
Pulling the rope sent their bodies tumbling right into the Dimensional Prison.
I didn't know the environment inside, but two unconscious guys wouldn't survive easily.
The Dimensional Prison vanished, leaving only Zhao Zewai, now unconscious.
I stored the rope in my dimensional slot and pointed a mithril blade at his throat.
His unfocused eyes stared at the faint light behind me.
"Just one question. Who helped you, and how?"
A faint smile crept onto his lips.
"...You think... I'll tell you...?"
"Then die."
No need to rack up another murder stack.
Toss him in the Dimensional Prison when it reappears, and if that doesn't kill him, summon monsters to finish them all at once.
The Demise Labyrinth had plenty of monsters.
Moments later, the Dimensional Prison reappeared, but the two inside were gone without a trace.
Now it was time to deal with Zhao Zewai.
As I tried to stuff him into the Dimensional Prison, pale things suddenly poured out from the corridor.
I hurriedly erected a dimensional barrier to block them, but it didn't cover Zhao Zewai.
The pale papers turned into spears and pierced his chest.
"Kkh!"
He died, and the paper morphed into claws, ripping something out.
I first thought it was his heart, but no.
It was a wriggling chunk of flesh.
A ghostly woman in a suit and glasses slowly walked out from the darkness.
Click-clack. The sound of high heels echoed.
I looked at her in disbelief.
"High heels in this apocalypse."
"No need to run. Nice to meet you. I'm Ko Ho-kyung, An Geun-seok's secretary. As you saw, a paper sorceress."
I chuckled dryly.
"Since when do developers have secretaries?"
"That's my current position. Originally, I worked at the developer's desk."
She manipulated the paper to bring the flesh to her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Urk.
She eats that?
.
.
.
"...Not very tasty."
"You're a monster too."
"We're all monsters. Aren't we?"
"Exclude me from that."
"Sorry, but I confirmed you turning into an Abomination. Quite impressive."
"Is that from the Unknown Monsters expansion pack?"
"You could call it the weakest mob. Even the Brute you saw isn't that strong."
"Thanks for the lesson."
I glared at her and opened my dimensional slot.
She shook her head and gathered hundreds of papers into a shield.
"This paper is quite sturdy. It won't tear from ordinary attacks. And of course, I can replenish it."
"So you're saying it's pointless. How kind."
"I'm giving you advice because I pity you."
"One question."
"Solving your curiosities is my role. What is it?"
"What do you want from me? What will you do after bringing me in?"
She traced her finger from my head to my toes.
Naked as I was, it was honestly embarrassing.
"I need your body. High level is important too."
"If you need a sturdy body and high level, can't you just use that gross flesh?"
They grew a level 20 scrub to 50 in an instant.
Higher was surely possible, so why need me?
Ko Ho-kyung pointed to her chest and smiled sweetly.
Down there already?
"This is just a temporary measure. It can't compare to purebreeds like you."
"What's so good about purebreeds?"
"Higher limits. You might not know, but Survival Life has stat caps."
Hidden stat, huh... First I'd heard of it.
"Stop beating around the bush and get to the point."
"If I tell you that much, my life would be in danger..."
"Does a Demise Labyrinth monster attack with tentacles or something?"
"Even you, speaking so casually, will change your mind once you meet Him."
Brainwashing, obviously.
Anyway, Ko Ho-kyung seemed done answering questions.
Time to fight, then.
I removed the transformation bracelet and put it back on. A different message appeared.
Damn.
Time limit shortened, exhaustion worse.
No such thing as free.
As I began transforming, Ko Ho-kyung slowly removed her glasses.
"Great power comes with great cost. You must have felt considerable pain when Polymorph ended."
Sorry, but Toughness made it bearable.
She pulled out a book and opened it.
Hundreds of papers scattered like falling leaves.
I finished transforming completely and unleashed the energy within with a roar.
Ko Ho-kyung whistled softly.
"You didn't use much power earlier. As expected of a purebreed."
Enough with the purebreed talk, you bastard!
I activated super senses and charged at her.
Instantly, a wall of paper spread wide.
I swung my fist, shredding it with a rip, but surprisingly, the paper stuck to me like clothing.
Then it exploded.
Boom boom boom!
The shock numbed my arm.
Super regeneration and pain resistance quickly eased the pain and began healing my skin.
But I couldn't reach her.
Endless paper walls kept appearing.
"You'll never reach me."
Let's test that.
I pushed forward, twitching, tearing through paper walls.
Ko Ho-kyung appeared momentarily, but vanished behind paper again.
She was laughing.
"I have hundreds of books. What will you do when you're tired from tearing and your transformation ends? Can you handle it?"
I can handle it just fine.
Instead of answering, I unleashed my full power, shredding the paper.
The moment her whole body was exposed, I angled and deployed a dimensional barrier over the book.
She looked panicked as the pages wouldn't turn.
"Why is this..."
Dimensional barrier, paper girl.
I charged at her.
"Guh!"
We rolled on the floor as one mass.
As expected, tentacles wrapped around my body.
This woman was a monster too.
I ripped off the tentacles clinging to my limbs and grabbed her head.
"K-kill me... and..."
Revival scroll, huh?
Searching hundreds of papers for it would be a waste of time.
But what a coincidence.
This was the Demise Labyrinth—limited respawn spots.
Respawn on the 1st floor? I'll hunt you down and kill you over and over.
I gripped harder, and she writhed violently.
Crack—
A strange sound rang out as her body went limp.
Golden light enveloped her simultaneously.
I strained my super senses to locate the respawn.
There.
I dashed over with pounding steps. Ko Ho-kyung emerging from the darkness freaked out upon seeing me.
"Monster...!"
Who's calling who a monster?
I kicked her mid-stride.
Her body flew limply like a puppet with cut strings.
Her broken body in an odd angle vanished in golden light.
And Polymorph ended.
I collapsed to my knees from extreme helplessness and pain.
It was like needles heated in my organs stabbing me—tremendous agony.
My vision wasn't just dizzy; it went pitch black, seeing nothing.
"Damn..."
Twice is the limit.
As I held back the nausea, I saw someone rising from the darkness down the corridor.
"I'll kill you! Tear you apart!"
She's pissed.
.
.
.
While Sung-ho fought Ko Ho-kyung in the Demise Labyrinth.
The veteran team searching Luat's palace finally found the mental immunity item.
Da-jeong and Geom-in tilted their heads at the ring's options.
"Resistance, immunity after tolerance."
"Wearing this should make Demise Labyrinth monster attacks safe, right?"
"Probably? But why did they make this?"
Seok-hyun, looking around the lab, spoke up.
"Luat's people were trying to fight the Demise Labyrinth monsters too."
"But they got wiped out. Useless in the end, no?"
"Slightly different, it says. These guys."
Seok-hyun placed Captain Dung Beetle and Stag Beetle on the desk's log.
They eagerly flipped it open and wrote in Korean on the desk.
"What's Judecca?"
A tentacle was drawn on Demise Labyrinth floor 15, and Da-jeong snapped her fingers.
"That monster's name, I guess."
Captain Dung Beetle flipped further through the log and wrote diligently in Korean.
Terrifying abilities were listed one after another.
"...Can we even beat this?"
Geom-in scratched his cheek uncertainly, and Da-jeong placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We covered mental immunity now, right?"
"Only one ring, though..."
Then Captain Dung Beetle added more.
"To dismantle and take these facilities, we need Sung-ho."
"Can't we call him?"
"He's fighting in the Demise Labyrinth."
"With who?"
"Chinese guys hoarding water bottles."
Da-jeong tapped her foot in dissatisfaction.
"Fighting level 20+ scrubs?"
It should be a massacre, not a fight.
"Apparently they're over level 50. Combat power's no joke."
Sensing something off, the three gathered info.
And learned the situation.
Geom-in gaped at Yoo-hyun's uploaded comment.
"Sung-ho fighting three level 50s? He's something else."
"Gave him the transformation ring, so he should be fine. Hey, hey, Earthworm, don't take off your panties! Wrong place!"
"Ah, my bad."
Seok-hyun, excited and about to strip, scratched his head.
He wanted to rush over, but no one knew the Demise Labyrinth's location.
Then a new comment popped up.
Mi-kyung's trait was Blink, boasting superior mobility.
After leaving Lotus Shelter for the Korean shelter, she traveled several km to enter the Demise Labyrinth.
Seok-hyun gave a thumbs up.
But Seok-hyun's expression turned serious.
If Seok-hyun called it crazy, it was truly insane.
Geom-in paced anxiously, and Da-jeong bit her lip.
What to do?
The Reason I Became a Monster - 5 End