The Birth of Ketchup Man
When I brought the Charging Ketchup Bottle back from the treasure store, a lot of people couldn’t hide their admiration for my grand vision and exceptional eye. But! A few idiots asked, “What the hell are you planning to do with a ketchup bottle?” I realized the time had come to give them a kind answer.
Shhhk. Slide—.
In the critical moment facing a Main, I pulled the Charging Ketchup Bottle out from my lower region. Even Changsik, who had been terrified, couldn’t hold back his awe at the incredible sight.
“Is that seriously a ketchup bottle?! Where the hell did you just pull that from? Where?!”
“Changsik, that’s not what’s important. The real question is what I can do with it.”
Sqqqqqueeeeze—.
I lifted the bottle above my head and squeezed with all my strength.
“Watch carefully! And don’t you dare tell anyone about this!”
Sqqqqqueeeeze. Splorch. Splorch—.
A liquid redder than blood and more savory than any seasoning poured down over my head and began soaking my entire body. I used my hands to spread the ketchup into every corner of my skin.
“Transform!”
That’s right. In this very moment I had become the human embodiment of ketchup itself—an existence that surpassed even a Main. A Ketchup Man.
According to my own personal theory, Ketchup Men are the superior evolution of Mains. The proof was right in front of us: even the Main Jin Eunbyeol had her gaze completely stolen by this astonishing transformation scene.
Name:Jin Eunbyeol
Possessed Concepts:
《Devil Lv.3》 — As wicked as the demon from a horror story.
《Prophecy Lv.2》 — Possesses foresight like an ancient shaman.
Status: 《Bewitched》 — Completely captivated by the bright red color.
Having become Ketchup Man, I opened my mouth and roared.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAH!”
My shout instantly dominated the space. It felt incredible to have every eye locked onto me.
“Dahaiyaaat!”
At that exact moment, someone let out a bizarre battle cry. It was Baek Yeoul.
“Baekdang Secret Technique—Ten Thousand Flower Rain!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Baek Yeoul began hurling the chopsticks in her hand like crazy. One of them stabbed straight into Jin Eunbyeol’s torso with a solid thunk!
“I-I hit it!”
“Ugh!”
THUD—!
Jin Eunbyeol crashed to the floor after getting struck by the chopstick. I didn’t miss the chance.
“Now! Everyone beat the absolute shit out of her!”
Our strategy was always the same. I draw the attention, they launch a surprise attack, and then we all pile on the opponent the moment they show an opening.
“Diamond Position!”
We surrounded the Main Jin Eunbyeol from front, back, and both sides, then unleashed a storm of punches, kicks, and random objects. Thudthudthudthudthudthudthud—!
In Ppang-daeng-i’s case, she pulled out her Frying Pan of Bad Luck and kept smashing the back of Jin Eunbyeol’s head with it. The impacts actually made metallic ringing sounds—ding ding ding.
“Tell us your name! Your name!”
Changsik shouted while stomping on Jin Eunbyeol like crazy. His obsession with names bordered on madness. The problem was that his flirting seemed to have pissed her off—her body began twisting in increasingly grotesque ways.
Her limbs stretched out sideways until they were nearly two meters long, her long black hair turned into feathers, and her face elongated until she looked exactly like a crow.
“Haaaaak!”
“Hiiiyak!”
“Uwaaah! My ears, my ears are going to burst!”
“Ugh…”
CRACK. SMASH—!
After letting out that monstrous scream, Jin Eunbyeol shattered the window and fled. Having grown used to Seo Gaeul’s insane shrieks, I found it bearable, but Ppang-daeng-i, Changsik, and Deoksoon looked like they’d suffered critical damage.
“After her!”
Model girl Jeon Somi was too scared to enter the villa, so she waited on the road for the kids from A Day Without Leftovers. Some time had passed since the broadcast cut off.
Wee-woo, wee-woo—.
When the police arrived with their sirens blaring, Jeon Somi finally calmed down enough to regain her senses. Only then did she realize how reckless she had been and started to panic.
‘Am I about to get arrested? If the broadcast and my ads get canceled because of this incident, I’ll have to pay huge penalties!’
She had acted out of a desire for revenge against Wang Jayeon and Jin Eunbyeol. But that didn’t mean she wanted her own life to fall even deeper into the abyss. That was a completely separate problem.
‘At this point I should just turn the broadcast back on and farm more donations. Just from today’s donations alone… one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand…’
So when Jeon Somi turned her personal channel back on, a massive noise erupted from inside the villa and a grotesque monster-like thing burst out.
“W-what the hell is that?!”
Even to Jeon Somi it looked horrifying. The suppression police who had been about to enter Jin Eunbyeol’s villa instantly drew their pistols and opened fire.
Bang! Bang bang bang—!
The noisy gunshots rang out for only a moment.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”
The monster’s scream made people clutch their ears and collapse on the spot.
While the broadcast viewers were still confused, a completely red Ha Namjin suddenly leaped out of the villa’s shattered window and tackled the monster’s body.
“Hey! Don’t you dare run away!”
The monster and Ha Namjin instantly tangled together in a chaotic brawl.
“Uh… uhhh…”
Since Jeon Somi was an active explorer, she could vaguely sense that this wasn’t an ordinary “monster.” From her experience fighting many monsters, this thing seemed far closer to a “human” than any monster she had seen.
Support 100,000 won if you fight alongside Ha Namjin lol
Support 10,000 won every time the monster gets hit…
Hunting monsters on broadcast or recording it was strictly forbidden by law. It was because of the Awakened Regulation Act passed by Nam Taegeon and the ruling party. Unregistered Awakened would sometimes broadcast or upload videos of their illegal activities, but they were quickly taken down. That was why the general public still knew very little about “Awakened” and “monsters.”
Because of that, the fight happening right in front of them was completely raw. As the chat window heated up like it was on fire, the police guns also spat flames.
“Open fire! Open fire!”
“Shoot!”
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!
Clang clang clang—! The bullets bounced off. The feathers growing on the monster’s body were as hard as steel, rendering gunfire useless. It only served to enrage the creature even more.
“Whoa, it’s coming this way!”
“Keep shooting! Keep shooting!”
Swoosh—!
When the monster swung its long arm, a police car crumpled like paper and crushed the officers. The vehicle caught fire in an instant.
“Hiiiii! Save me! Somebody save me!”
The police pinned under the car screamed. But their colleagues couldn’t easily rescue them. The monster’s eyes were now fixed on them.
People who had lived lives far removed from monsters or Awakened found the situation before them utterly dizzying. Then, realizing there was an Awakened nearby who might be able to fight the monster, they turned desperate, hopeful eyes toward Jeon Somi.
“W-why are you looking at me?!”
But Jeon Somi stumbled backward in panic. She suddenly remembered advice from several senior explorers: “If you encounter a monster that looks like a human inside the labyrinth, run away first.”
“Namjin Kiiiiick!”
At that moment, Ha Namjin leaped high into the air and kicked the monster with all his strength.
CRAAAASH—!
The monster slammed into a wall.
“What are you doing?! While the Main is distracted by my ketchup, run away! Go call a tank! A tank! An armored vehicle!”
The monster’s pitch-black eyes reflected the bright red Ha Namjin. Just like a bull charging at a matador’s red cape, the monster lunged at the ketchup-covered Ha Namjin.
What followed was a back-and-forth battle.
Although she was scared, Jeon Somi was still an Awakened. Having received training from many instructors until just last year, she could accurately judge the fight between Ha Namjin and the monster.
“The crow monster seems to have the physical advantage, but it lacks technique. It doesn’t have much fighting experience. On the other hand, even though Ha Namjin is physically weaker, he’s much more skilled in actual combat!”
It was true that she didn’t want to fight, but her statement that she couldn’t jump into their battle was accurate. Ha Namjin was somehow maintaining a miraculous balance against an opponent several times his size. He would kick off walls to leap into the air, then launch himself back down to slam into the monster using the recoil. It almost looked like acrobatics.
“If Ha Namjin takes even one solid hit there, everything will fall apart!”
If someone like her, whose rhythm didn’t match theirs at all, jumped in carelessly, who knew what variables would appear. Sometimes staying still was the best way to help, and now was exactly that time.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
It happened right when a panicked special forces officer wildly sprayed his submachine gun. Ting ting ting—.
Bullets that ricocheted off the monster’s feathers lodged into Ha Namjin’s thigh.
“Aaargh, fuck! It hurts so bad! My leeeeg!”
“Kikikik—”
The monster reached out toward Ha Namjin, who had lost his balance in an instant. If he hadn’t quickly kicked off the ground and leaped backward, he would have been caught in that massive grip.
The resulting stalemate left both sides injured. The monster also seemed reluctant to move recklessly after taking damage from Ha Namjin’s attacks.
Ha Namjin spoke.
“Looks like it’s time to bring out another one of my secret weapons. My Leap is about to hit Level 3 too. You just stay right there and don’t move.”
Ha Namjin rummaged through his clothes. Sensing danger, the monster took a deep breath.
“Haaaaaaaak!”
Having filled its lungs completely, the monster opened its huge beak-like mouth and let out another tremendous scream.
Crash! Shatter—!
It was so loud that every window in the surrounding houses shattered and the parked cars blared their alarms. The noise itself seemed to carry physical destructive power.
“Haaaaaaaaaak!”
Even Ha Namjin dropped to one knee under the continuous sonic assault. It was a truly desperate situation. Even Jeon Somi dropped her phone and covered both ears.
In this situation, the Devil concept, true to its nature, sought to harm as many people as possible. It immediately turned and headed toward the crowded downtown area.
“W-what is that?”
“It’s a monster! Run!”
The people gathered in the city center fell into pandemonium. The Devil watched with satisfaction as they collided with each other and fled screaming, then inflated its lungs once more.
And it screamed.
“…….”
But something strange happened. As if all sound had been cleanly erased from the world, everything fell into perfect silence.
Thump-thump—.
The Devil soon spotted a female student dancing strangely among the fleeing people. It was a girl with long bangs covering her eyes.
Who was she again? A girl with so little presence that even her name was hard to remember. A girl who might have lived her whole life as a side character was now shining like the protagonist in a perfectly silent world without any accompaniment.
The girl suddenly stopped moving. The world was still wrapped in silence, yet for some reason everyone present could clearly hear the voice of the girl named Oh Deokhui.
“You already know the reason I’m doing this better than anyone.”
Student Oh Deokhui was still afraid of the monster before her eyes. But not as much as before.
“Well done, Deoksoon-ah!”
Swish—!
Ha Namjin popped out from behind Oh Deokhui. Like a baseball pitcher, he hurled the object in his hand with full force.
“Namjin Meteor!”
It was a small object. The thing that sliced through the air struck the Devil square in the chest.
Crack—.
The sound of something shattering came from inside the Devil. The concept stone deep within its chest had been destroyed.
“No!”
“Whoa, it really can’t move once it gets hit by the USB. Thanks to you, my Leap reached Level 3. How about that? My leaping USB!”
THUD—.
When the devil collapsed in front of the boy, the heavy silence that had been crushing the people finally lifted. They felt relief and moved on instinct.
“W-we’re alive!”
“Thank you!”
Clap, clap clap, clapclapclapclap—!
Cheers and applause poured down like rain. That was when it happened.
Clomp clomp clomp clomp—!
“Ha Namjin, Baek Yeoul, Choi Changsik, and Oh Deokhui! We are placing you under emergency arrest as active criminals under the Awakened Regulation Act!”
Special forces agents who appeared as if they had been waiting thrust handcuffs toward Ha Namjin. The students who had defeated the monster were instead being subdued by the police who arrived late. The one who had reported them, Wang Jayeon, appeared and looked overjoyed.
“Ha Namjin! You’re caught red-handed! Everyone saw it on the broadcast, so this time even you won’t be able to escape!”
There were only two possible fates for an arrested Awakened: become a Suicide Commando or—.
While Wang Jayeon was busy wishing misfortune upon Ha Namjin—
“You bastards who were just watching from the back while the monsters rampaged, why the hell are you acting tough now that it’s over!”
A loud shout erupted.
“Let them go! Release the students!”
“You have no conscience! How can you call yourselves adults? You should be ashamed!”
People’s dissatisfaction spread like wildfire in an instant. When the police started exchanging glances in the atmosphere that looked like a riot might break out, Ha Namjin reached out toward the handcuffs and spoke.
“Everyone! Don’t worry! I’ll be released soon due to insufficient evidence! Also, this arrest is part of my plan, so please don’t blame the people just doing their jobs!”
When the boy shouted with such confidence, the people looked at each other uncertainly.
‘Getting arrested is part of his plan? That poor bastard’s just spouting nonsense because he’s cornered.’
Wang Jayeon couldn’t understand how being arrested could be part of a plan. He had no idea that every single scene was being broadcast through Jeon Somi’s phone, and that the number of viewers had already far exceeded any prediction.