Chapter 4: Devouring the Earthquake God
Screeech!
The monster rat let out a shriek the instant my hand clamped around its skull.
Crunch!
Its head burst open like a watermelon.
Repulsive fluids splattered everywhere, but the golden aura enveloping my body repelled them all.
Lightweight.
It felt as light as a feather.
This wasn't just raw strength—it was heightened senses.
My muscles reacted faster than thought.
All stats at 100.
The average level 1 hunter or awakener had base stats around 10.
All stats at 100 was the realm of at least level 10.
Starting at level 10.
Not a bad launch.
No, honestly speaking.
It was overwhelming.
This shows just how insane Rag's growth potential is.
I chuckled and flicked away the rat's exploded corpse before heading outside.
"Kyaaah!"
"R-Run!"
"Monsters! The rats are eating people!"
It was hell outside.
Dozens, hundreds of monster rats poured from cracks in the asphalt.
They tore into anyone in reach and scaled buildings.
Amid the pandemonium, I coolly analyzed the situation.
We always got it wrong.
In the past, humanity thought monsters appeared first, causing buildings to crumble and the earth to split.
Wrong.
The order was reversed.
Disasters come first.
The earthquake disaster ripped open dimensional rifts.
The monsters merely crawled out from those gaps.
In other words.
Eliminate the disaster, and the monsters vanish naturally.
Solve the root, and the effects follow.
We never grasped that simple truth until the moment of extinction.
We were too busy chasing the monsters in front of us.
But not this time.
I knew the answer.
Whoosh!
I kicked off the ground.
The asphalt cratered as my body shot forward like a cannonball.
"Squeak?"
A rat blocking my path made a dumb noise.
I threw a punch.
Splat!
Its upper body flew off, smashing into the rats behind it.
I pulverized everything in my way.
Fists flew indiscriminately.
I sliced necks with hand blades, stomped three or four at a time.
"P-Please, spare us!"
A mother and daughter cowering in a corner screamed.
Five monster rats had them surrounded.
I didn't stop, snatching a fallen stone and hurling it.
Whoosh!
Strength-enhanced, it flew like a bullet.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Holes punched through three rats' heads in an instant.
The remaining two turned in confusion—my fists already buried in their solar plexuses.
Crack!
"...Wha...?"
I left the dazed survivors behind and kept running.
No need for thanks.
What mattered now was finding the root.
Then.
Bzzz.
My right palm itched.
Faint golden runes glowed.
Like a compass.
My hand pointed in one direction on its own.
There.
Smack in the heart of Seoul.
The massive sinkhole gaping widest.
Black smoke billowing from it—the earthquake's source, the core of this disaster.
I veered toward it.
But there was a problem.
Screeeeech!
Squeak! Squeak squeak!
Too many.
The closer to the sinkhole, the more rats exponentially.
Not just the black carpet on the ground.
Buzzzzz!
An ominous wingbeat from above.
Looking up, man-sized giant dragonflies swarmed the sky.
Demon Flies.
The aerial monsters that killed the most early awakeners.
Encroaching from ground and air.
Breaking through by brute force would take too long.
Annoying pests.
Descent time was limited.
Couldn't waste it on trash mobs.
As I clenched my fist.
You have met the usage conditions for the disaster, 'Typhoon of Annihilation'.
It can now be manifested in your current body.
Would you like to use it?
Conditions met.
Probably due to the horde of enemies and the perfect setup for annihilation.
I nodded without hesitation.
Whoosh!
A small whirlwind formed above my left palm.
Right hand eats, left hand spits out?
Input and output.
I grasped the structure.
This was the basic principle of the Disaster Devourer class.
The wind, ping-pong ball-sized at first, ballooned to basketball proportions.
Compressed air screamed.
Vreeeeee!
Nearby rats sensed primal fear and backed away.
Too late.
I hurled the disaster at the densest monster cluster.
"Sweep them all away."
Thud!
The moment it hit the ground.
Kwooooooom!
Explosive roar as the atmosphere twisted.
The colossal typhoon from Asgard.
Had descended on Seoul's heart.
Screech!
Screeeeech!
Not even proper screams.
Ground rats swept up like leaves.
Flying dragonflies' wings shredded, sucked into the eye.
Building debris, cars, thousands of monsters—blended in a massive mixer.
Overwhelming destruction.
True annihilation.
"Clean work."
Pat pat.
I dusted my palms.
Job done.
I equipped Spirit Wings and dove into the sinkhole.
No end in sight.
The sinkhole's depth defied imagination.
Without Spirit Wings, I'd never have dared descend.
Swoosh.
Cleaving air, I plunged deep.
Pitch-black darkness around.
No issue.
Bzzz.
Golden light from my right palm served as natural illumination.
We're here.
How far down?
My toes touched hard ground.
Not a natural cave—artificially chiseled space.
I folded my wings and walked toward the golden light's guide.
At its end.
"...A person?"
An unexpected presence.
No monster egg or mana stone.
An ordinary human man sat cross-legged on a rock.
He sensed me and snapped his eyes open.
"What are you?"
Obvious panic.
"How'd you get down here? The entrance was swarming with rats."
"Followed the path."
"...Impossible. Breaking through that many to reach here."
He narrowed his eyes, scanning me head to toe.
Then glanced up, muttering.
"Wait. That aura from outside... a typhoon?"
He looked back.
Eyes changed.
"No way—you an avatar?"
"..."
"Weird. Territories shouldn't overlap. Did the admins screw up the setup?"
Avatar.
Territory.
Admins.
His words clicked like puzzle pieces.
Disasters had territories.
And their instigators weren't monsters—but human-like figures.
Above all.
Familiar face.
I knew that face.
"Kim Yuhwan?"
He flinched at my question.
"How do you know my username?"
Confirmed.
Steel-like Kim Yuhwan.
The hero who shot to fame in Korea.
Worshipped for saving countless with his iron body.
Yet here he sat, the earthquake's root.
So that's how it was.
A chilling hypothesis flashed.
The suspiciously fast-growing, powerful heroes.
Their true nature.
Agents of the gods?
Too cozy for agents.
Avatar.
Perhaps.
The gods' game?
This Kim Yuhwan—an in-game character, an avatar spawned by gods on Earth.
Like my Rag creation in Asgard.
The difference?
...They triggered disasters, summoned monsters, massacred people to level up.
Then played hero by "slaying" them at the right moment.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped.
We hailed these poison-peddlers as saviors?
Thanked the ones who broke us then "healed" us?
"Amusing."
Killing intent boiled.
Kim Yuhwan tilted his head, puzzled.
"What's so funny? More importantly, what's your affiliation? Which god are you?"
"None of your business."
No point talking.
Killing him would reveal all.
I kicked the ground.
Boom!
Earth caved as I rocketed forward.
Kim Yuhwan's eyes widened.
"Crazy!"
Rumble rumble boom!
He slammed his hand down; the ground quaked.
Massive rocks erupted, blocking my path.
Earthquake authority.
Useless.
Flap!
Spirit Wings unfurled.
I bounded off rising rocks like stepping stones, soaring to his face.
"Wh-What?!"
Panicked, he crossed his arms.
His skin turned steel-black.
Steelization.
The power that made his past self a hero.
Absolute defense nullifying physical blows.
But.
That's against humans.
My strength: 100.
Off-spec from the start.
Kaboom!
Fist slammed into crossed arms.
"Gaaah!"
Steel crumpled; he flew back.
Rock behind shattered; he cratered into dust.
"Cough! Hack!"
Bloody, he rose.
Both arms dangled, bones pulverized.
Eyes bulged in disbelief.
"Im... impossible."
"..."
"How'd you grow that strong already? Tutorial just started!"
Voice laced with terror and shock.
"No way initial stats are this high! You a high-tier god or what?"
Step step.
I approached silently.
He backpedaled, face pale.
"S-Stay back! Why fight fellow gods? Treaty violation!"
They even had rules among themselves.
Confirmed.
These were Asgard's gods.
Precisely.
Tower gods.
Now I got it.
They deceived humanity from start to finish.
"Let go! Killing me just deletes one avatar!"
He thrashed, screaming.
Eyes terrified, but voice held conviction.
"My true body is in Asgard! Kill me here, I respawn!"
He snarled, veins bulging.
"Clear territory invasion! I'll report to the council. You broke the treaty—you know the price!"
Treaty. Council. Price.
Ridiculous words.
I smirked, pressing my palm to his chest.
"Do what you want."
"...What?"
"If you can."
Bzzz!
Golden rune on my right palm vibrated wildly.
Predator's instinct before prey.
Golden light bored into his heart.
"Gaaah! Wh-What is this?!"
His body convulsed.
Face drained white.
Then he screamed desperately.
"Log out! Log out!"
Yelling system commands at the air.
"Force quit! Disconnect! Now!"
But.
"...N-No? Why?"
His pupils shook like an earthquake.
Impossible.
System was absolute.
Law even gods couldn't defy.
Yet blocked by mere player interference?
Then he realized the golden light invading his chest.
"N-No way..."
Not just avatar mana.
Even his Asgard true body's power.
His very divinity sucked wholesale.
"H-How are you absorbing my divinity too!"
Impossible.
A power that kills gods!
"What are you?! Stop!!"
He clawed at my arm with all his might.
But steel fingers crumbled on contact.
"Aaaaagh!"
The scream didn't last.
Shoooo...
From legs up through torso to head.
Kim Yuhwan's body dissolved into golden particles, sucked into my right hand.
"Mercy..."
With his final gasp.
Pop!
His existence erased from the world.
Simultaneously.
Rumble... stop.
Endless quakes ceased.
Ominous aura filling the sinkhole vanished clean.
You have devoured the disaster, Low-tier Earthquake God Kartal.
Divinity absorbed.
You can now permanently use the authority, 'Low-tier Earthquake'.
Earthquake intensity scales with your mana.
Episode 1, 'Invasion', has ended.
Catastrophic contribution.
Far exceeds projected survival rate.
Ranked #1 in Episode 1, 'Invasion'.
Register your name in the Hall of Fame.
Roll the die (1~15) to determine reward scale.
15! Lucky die hits max!
◈ Hatches into a young dragon loyal to the owner
◈ Collect 100 to forge the Philosopher's Stone