┖ It's a Bul-Raid!! 0.0;;
┖ Wait!! Isn't Seoul in danger, too?!
┖ XX What is the government doing?! ㅡ.ㅡ^
┖ Hah, an MS I liked will be lost to us like this? D*mn. ㅠ
The viewers were losing their minds from what they saw.
And they were looking at a five-star ranking monster.
That was a ranking attached to a species of monsters that humanity thought they couldn't win against, no matter what they tried.
Many of the viewers realised that this might not be the best time to worry about the life of an MS who was unlucky enough to run into a Bul-Raid. Because.... the Gimpo Airport just so happened to be a stone's throw away from the city of Seoul.
After this MS was killed, they would most likely be next in line.
So, they should think about finding the nearest emergency shelters and...
"Ah, hahahaha!!!!"
However, the viewers heard the loud laughter of delight coming from the MS Cameraman.
┖ Why is he laughing like a f*cking maniac??
┖ ㅇㅇ He's insane?;;;
┖ Let him be. He's about to die, anyway.
"....."
The monster's eyes narrowed to a razor-thin slit as it tilted its head. The creature stared at the strange human, perhaps wondering why he was laughing like that.
The young man, having succeeded in attracting the attention of the five-star ranked monster to himself, didn't avert his gaze. No, rather than looking away, he fiercely glared back, as if to declare his intention to challenge it.
"This is...."
Choi Kahng-Sik suddenly stopped laughing and shouted out loudly.
"....What I've been waiting for!!"
He discarded the aeroplane door and the camera. And while holding the shovel real tightly, he dashed towards his target. After all, any and all form of defence meant nothing when facing this creature's blades.
So, the best form of defence was just to attack, attack, attack!!
Almost every day of the past ten years, Choi Kahng-Sik thought hard, and then thought hard some more, about just one single thing.
'The five-star ranked monster, Bul-Raid.'
One of the most powerful monsters out there that had never been subjugated once, all because of its ability to increase the number of blades it wielded, to match the number of enemies present.
Its outer appearance was remarkably similar to a human. It wasn't any bigger, either.
Only that, its hands and feet were shaped like blades, that was all.
One might think that it'd be impossible for this d*mnable creature to even balance itself properly with feet like that, but the Bul-Raid stood on the tip of the blades as if it was a figure skater or something.
It wasn't just the outer appearance that was bizarre.
*SFX for the monster gliding smoothly*
It even glided around as if the ground was a frozen lake.
The monster distanced itself from the approaching Choi Kahng-Sik as if it wanted to avoid him altogether.
Was it trying to run away?
"Hah! I'm sick of that stupid tactic already!!"
Choi Kahng-Sik twisted his body. He didn't even look at the flying blade coming at him from his blind spot and dodged.
The blade grazed past his waist.
A little bit of fresh blood danced in the air, but Choi Kahng-Sik ignored his wound. The attack failed to blunt his momentum and his determined steps.
His two bloodshot eyes were gleaming in madness.
'That tactic of yours, I know it all too well!'
His father died from that attack, after all. Right in front of his eyes, no less. A blade flying in from behind would bisect the victim in half from the waist.
As for his mother and his little sister.....
"I'll rip you apart limb from limb!!!!!"
Choi Kahng-Sik was like a berserk wild beast as he closed the distance between him and the monster.
"....."
The Bul-Raid simply kept retreating, looking disinterested. However, it continued to glare at the shovel in Choi Kahng-Sik's hands.
….As if it was wary of the make-shift weapon.
Swish!
The blade reflecting the amber sunlight rotated in the skies above, before dropping down to slice him up.
Choi Kahng-Sik still evaded it.
"Keuk!"
However, the attack this time was harder to contend with. The blade's trajectory was initially a straight line, but it tilted to the side at the very last second and ended up causing a flesh wound on his skin.
*SFX for blood trickling down*
The blood trickled down on his neck where the blade narrowly missed.
'That godd*mn humanoid monster!'
The trouble with a monster that resembled a human in outer appearance was that usually, its intelligence would be incredibly high. Sometimes, even higher than a normal person. It could even study human behaviour, too...
Unfortunately for the monster, its opponent today was a bad match-up for itself.
"I've been thinking only about you!!"
….Choi Kahng-Sik just made a confession like a stalker.
Thinking only of revenge, Choi Kahng-Sik ran countless simulations in his mind for years. He searched and studied for a way to increase his odds of victory, even if it was by a tiny little margin.
A method to defeat a Bul-Raid without possessing superpowers!
Not once had he ever forgotten about this creature...
And so, finally....!
[A certain god is despairing after hearing this twisted romance.]
[A certain impatient god is retching to the side.]
[Another god is busy covering his ears.]
'Don't block my view with your crap!'
The discontent messages from the gods hindered his forward vision like a blanket of fog. And he nearly missed the Bul-Raid's blade because of that.
Swish, slash!
However, Choi Kahng-Sik emerged relatively unscathed. He managed to dodge the blade even without looking at it.
"....?"
The brows of the Bul-Raid quivered slightly.
It couldn't understand why its blade failed to reach this lone human.
Wasn't it like the human was reading its mind?
The Bul-Raid suddenly felt a chill run down its backside.
'It's working! Yes!'
Choi Kahng-Sik rejoiced in his mind.
The five-star ranked monster, Bul-Raid - which was theoretically impossible to subjugate, because it'd simply replicate as many blades as there were enemies. Thus, thought to be one of the most powerful monsters out there.
'In that case, you gotta go with the other method!'
What if there was only one enemy?
That meant there would be only one blade!
Choi Kahng-Sik kept a close eye on the blade circling around in the air as if it was a bird of prey. As long as he remained aware of that single blade, there weren't much else that could truly to threaten him.
Unlike in the past when he was powerless, things were different now.
'It's one on one! Just you and me!!'
Besides, this wasn't a city full of people, either!
He didn't even have to worry about the blades replicating millions of times and blanketing the sky.
┖ Oh. My. God. The MS isn't dying. ㅋㅋㅋ
┖ Hul. Is this MS for real?!
┖ He's fighting a five-star face to face. Absolute madness. ;;
┖ My girl is looking at me as if I'm a human waste. What should I do? ㅠㅠ
┖ Told you. Break up with her. ㅗ
Understandably, the audience was in pure chaos as well. Why? Because, no matter how long they waited, they didn't get to see the expiration of the MS as they've been expecting.
Did they say that he was unlucky to run into a Bul-Raid?
Nope. They were actually witnessing a true miracle unfold right before their eyes.
*SFX for the shovel hitting the monster*
And then, he even managed to exceed that miracle, too.
Choi Kahng-Sik evaded the flying blade and closed the distance. Then, he swung the shovel hard and smacked the Bul-Raid's chin.
That must've been the first time in the history of mankind.
"....!?"
Bul-Raid began staggering back, its head tilted backwards.
'This shovel, isn't it freaking amazing?'
Choi Kahng-Sik couldn't help but be genuinely moved by this shovel.
It remained fine after caving in the skulls of countless Buff-Palrogs. Sure, he did expect something like this, just a little, but still...
It was incredibly durable.
When the shovel came in contact with the Bul-Raid's right hand and the blades there, rather than getting cut in half, it proceeded to simply break the monster's weapons and struck the chin, instead.
'Holy cow!'
Choi Kahng-Sik couldn't believe it.
To think, he'd get to revel in the greatness of a god from a shovel!
[A certain god is forming a conceited facial expression.]
[A certain impatient god is snorting in derision.]
"...?"
The Bul-Raid used its tongue to wipe the blood on the corner of its mouth. Rather than anger, it looked supremely embarrassed by what just happened.
Also, it seemed as if the creature couldn't believe it was struck by a shovel.
One could say that this situation was akin to a scion of a noble clan getting smacked in the face by a peasant or something. (TL note at the end)
The five-star ranked monster, now that its pride was wounded, it did the only logical thing there was to do.
"Heok?!"
The jaw of the deeply-tense Choi Kahng-Sik fell to the floor. He saw it with his own two eyes, yet he still couldn't believe it.
'It's giving up already?!'
┖ Ohh, look. The Bul-Raid is running away. ;;
┖ Hey, so. This is a live stream, right? @[email protected]
┖ He beat the crap out of a five-star with a shovel!! ㅋㅋㅋ
The most devastating killer that threatened to extinguish humanity couldn't do a thing against a lone human and ended up showing its back to him. Compared to before, when it attacked Choi Kahng-Sik while retreating to maintain the distance, its escaping speed was much, much faster.
Of course, Choi Kahng-Sik completely blew his top in fury.
'How can this be?! How did the things turn out this way?!'
[A certain god is shrugging his shoulders.]
[Another god is actually enjoying this turn of events.]
"Stop!! Hey, you!! You're supposed to be a five-star.... God d*mn it!!"
….The system of ranking monsters with stars.
That was just something humans arbitrarily assigned to monsters for the ease of classification. Obviously, it made little sense to tell the monster to act like its ranking.
'Still, even then....!'
How could this be, for a monster that massacred millions, tens of millions of people until now, to turn tail and run away just because it got hit once in the head?!
This was probably one of the most absurd situations Choi Kahng-Sik ever faced in his entire life.
However, he still didn't forget to give chase to the fleeing monster like an angry predator while carrying his shovel.
Swish!
The monster's blade quickly flew at his direction.
"Hmph!"
Choi Kahng-Sik easily evaded an attack that was only meant to delay him. An attack thrown in haste at his rough direction didn't even pose any threat to him whatsoever.
But.... it was then.
"Ahaha!! I'll be the one to kill the Bul-Raid!!"
A voice truly came out from nowhere.
Hahn Joh-Seop was in hiding nearby while shaking in fear from the unexpected appearance of the Bul-Raid. Yet, having grown bold, he decided that now was a good time to throw a lightning bolt at the fleeing five-star monster.
'This is a once-in-lifetime opportunity!!!'
To become the man who hunted the five-star monster by himself!!
The wealth and honour brought along by that claim momentarily flickered in front of Hahn Joh-Seop's eyes and blinded him.
He was also thinking that he could never ever let that d*mn Parachute steal this opportunity from him.
"....Kek."
The Bul-Raid nonchalantly brushed away the blue lightning bolt shot from the new enemy, and for the first time since it appeared in the battlefield, it emitted a noise.
And it was clearly a snigger.
The second blade formed in the air alongside that laughter.
Naturally, Choi Kahng-Sik lost all his momentum right then, and his expression froze still.
Swish!
Slash!!
The two blades completely ignored the useless MS Hahn Joh-Seop and flew in at Choi Kahng-Sik's direction.
Cuss words automatically spat out from his lips.
"God d*mn it....!!"
Those blades were openly aiming for his legs.
It was totally different to when he only had one blade to worry about.
Even the simplest maths said this was twice the attack power!
Wounds appeared thick and fast all over Choi Kahng-Sik's body, and he had no choice but to give up on pursuing the fleeing Bul-Raid.
┖ D*mn! And he was so close, too! ;;
┖ That stupid Hahn Joh-Seop! Wowsers. This fool. ㅋㅋㅋ
┖ I'm gonna die from cancer of frustration here. ㅜ.ㅠ
┖ I'm leaving now. ^^
The responses of the viewers were getting quite murderous. Understandably so, too.
'This... Isn't this really dangerous?'
The Monster Streamer Hahn Joh-Seop wasn't a dummy. He wrecked his brain real hard to find a way to reverse this negative sentiment solely focused in his direction. Otherwise, he'd be lynched by a mob at this rate.
And then, perhaps unwisely, opened his mouth.
"Ahah, ahaha. Well, how unfortunate! Mister Choi Kahng-Sik-ssi? Our coordinated attack was so perfect, yet the monster still got away. This is quite lamentable, wouldn't you say? But, I'm sure we will succeed next ti... Ahahaha... Please, don't make that face. What can we do, when the heavens weren't helping us today?"
"....You."
A bloodied young man slowly approached the handsome MS while dragging a shovel along.
"If you have nothing scheduled next, then why not you and I..... Ugeh?!"
Choi Kahng-Sik simply punched the face of the fool.
Plop.
"Huh. He made the same noise as a Buff-Palrog grazing on grass."
[A certain god is smiling brightly after the confirming that this story will be a long-form one.]
[A certain impatient god looks dejected.]
[Another god is gently patting the back of the dejected god.]
[Number of viewers: 11]
< Chapter 13: A Star (5) > Fin.
(TL: I was reading a xianxia novel just before TLing this chapter, so forgive me for this line. I couldn't help it. The original line in the raw wasn't as elaborate as mine, you see.)