Kwadang!!
The solid concrete floor shook hard.
The Any-Won stood up quickly by supporting itself with its hands and roared out in pure anger.
ROARRRRR!!!
It dared not look down on this little human prey anymore. Not after what happened.
Flinch!
The monster pushed with its sphincter, and carefully tried to pull out the offending foreign object still stuck up its bottom with its fingers, thereby relieving itself of the intolerable pain.
It was then.
"Over here!"
The Any-Won was in the middle of the 'extraction' process, but it almost reflexively shifted its gaze over to the direction where that irritating human's voice came from - right above its head.
The problematic human was falling like a lightning bolt towards it.
The one-star ranked monster still stuck in a very awkward posture, lifted one hand away from its a*s to defend itself.
Stab!
But, by then, another object was already embedding itself in the monster's face.
"Kuwaaheh?!"
And it was a red-coloured steel pipe digging into its large eyeball.
Stab!!
It wasn't the only one, though.
While holding onto metal pipes as thick as an adult's thumb in each of his hands, Choi Kahng-Sik's eyes gleamed dangerously like a wild beast.
'This isn't enough.'
Still dangling on the head of the monster with metal pipes, he moved his arms without a shred of hesitation or mercy. Well, if he stopped here, then it'd be him who'd be dead instead, that was why.
He spun his arms around as if he was stirring a pot with a ladle.
And the metal pipes made a complete mess of the monster 's eyeballs.
"Kuuoooh?!"
The Any-Won screamed out in pain.
Before the monster could grab him, Choi Kahng-Sik kicked its head and retreated away.
The monster and its bloodied face had now fallen completely into a confused panic.
'Not even remotely close yet.'
Choi Kahng-Sik kept a cool head and judged so.
He may have succeeded in taking away the creature's sight, but it was still too early to say that he won. He still lacked that one decisive blow.
He quickly surveyed the darkness around him.
And he found himself inside a place that could commonly be found in Korea before the advent of the monsters ushered in the 'new world'.
"Is this a church...?"
Too bad, there was no time for him to relax and enjoy the sight. The recovery rate of a monster was waaay beyond that of an ordinary animal, after all. Even if its eyeballs were completely ruined, they would be restored in full in a few minutes if left alone.
So, quite obviously, he had to end this fight before that...
┖ Can't see sh*t from the blood on the lens.
┖ Hey, Mister MS. Wipe the blood off from the camera lens, will ya?
┖ That's tears of admiration, that. (ㅠПㅠ)//
┖ You are the hope of the regular civilians, man. (⊙_⊙)_b
'These idiots, even now...!'
He was in a serious hurry here, yet they were all so blasé about it as if they were watching a dang movie or something. Choi Kahng-Sik was really unhappy, but again, now wasn't the time to argue.
He spotted the torn remains of humans, scattered all around the place. The places where the rescuers hadn't reached yet would always be left in such a wretched state.
All of this carnage, that Any-Won was the culprit.
Choi Kahng-Sik remained calm and searched for a useful tool.
"I need something, anything to use as a weapon... Ohh!"
What he found as he looked around was a decorative item resting on the table inside what used to be the prayer room.
It was cross made out of steel.
It was as big as an adult male; rather than looking sacred, it instead looked, more or less, quaint. It was obviously not designed to serve as a weapon, but he liked the fact that all of its pointed ends were as sharp as nails.
'This will do.'
ROAR!!!
Even though it lost its eyesight, the sense of hearing for this monster was highly developed; as soon as it heard the human youth mutter out something, it furiously rushed towards his direction.
However, he didn't try to run.
'I'll end this in one shot!'
Choi Kahng-Sik climbed up on the table to match the height, and he lifted the steel cross above his head with both of his hands.
*SFX for the monster's stomping feet*
Suddenly, the Any-Won leapt up in a low trajectory.
Choi Kahng-Sik cried out while swinging the cross down vertically.
"Let me show you the power of the gods!"
[A certain god is beaming brightly.]
[A certain impatient god is enjoying this, regardless.]
[Another god is looking on seemingly satisfied by something.]
Actually, he didn't say that out loud for the benefit of these gods.
Nope, it was just him putting on the best performance possible for his customers.
'Oh dear gods, have you all heard of the term, putting on a show?'
There wasn't even enough time to wipe away the monster's blood off the camera. In that case, he had to at least provide the proper voice-over commentary!
And this here was now the grand climax!
A human and a monster collided.
SLAM!!
The corner of the steel cross Choi Kahng-Sik swung down slammed right in the middle of the Any-Won's forehead like an axe.
The giant monkey monster, what with it being blind and all, couldn't dodge it.
"Kuuuwoh?!
Choi Kahng-Sik's strength, increased in proportion to the number of gods watching him, far exceeded that of a regular human being. Not only that, he had even used his entire body weight behind the swing!
So, this attack was clearly not going to be weak.
And, the monster's own momentum was just icing on the sweet cake.
*SFX for bones cracking*
The blow managed to even drill past the solid skull of a one-star ranked monster.
"Keureuk?!"
The Any-Won began staggering around like a drunk after its brain was damaged. It still wasn't dead from such a fatal attack, though, all because its 'Core' was not damaged yet.
That dang organ, only to be found within monsters. What an annoyingly large difference it proved to be.
"Keuhk?!"
The monster's fist, that was swung with all of its forward momentum, slammed into Choi Kahng-Sik's lower body. And he soon felt a pain similar to his spine snapping in half.
In other words, it was exactly them exchanging a blow each.
Not only that, both were potentially fatal, as well.
Unfortunately, the one who landed in an urgent situation was Choi Kahng-Sik.
'D*mn it! I forgot about the Core!'
Humans didn't possess 'insurance' like these monsters. A human's body was very fragile and one could still die if a limb got torn away, never mind the brain or the heart.
The dead bodies that were strewn about here attested to that reality.
Even then, he didn't stop thinking.
'Come on, think! Think, Choi Kahng-Sik!'
He knew that he'd die the moment he stopped thinking, so he continued to think fast and hard. And then, he spontaneously picked up a rock and threw it to the floor far away.
*SFX for a rock bouncing around on the floor*
Roar!!
The Any-Won was in the middle of searching for that hateful human and immediately reacted to that sudden noise.
Since its eyesight hadn't been restored yet, it could only blindly rush towards the direction where the rock fell.
"Euh-eeuk! Keuhk!"
Choi Kahng-Sik forced his aching, hurting body to rise up, so he could land in another attack on the monster's unguarded back.
He didn't have any great plan, though.
'But, I can't give up like this....'
Kwadang!! Kaboom!!
Meanwhile, the Any-Won ran past the rock and rather bravely continued on, until colliding hard against the solid wall.
And sure enough, the entire underground chapel shook hard.
"Kuoho?"
The Any-Won was still concussed from the steel cross damaging its brain and couldn't tell its right from its left. It shook its head to clear the cobwebs and searched for the human's presence once more.
It happened then.
Crreaaaak...
There was a noise of something sliding down.
"Keureuk?"
The monster was concentrating hard to hear the human's sound and raised its head without thinking after hearing that noise.
*SFX for an object coming loose*
The huge cross ornament hanging on the centre wall of the prayer room had been shaken loose from the previous impact and fell from its spot.
….Right on top of that Any-Won's head.
Kwaboom!!
"Kuueeehk?!"
The monster cried out helplessly after it got pinned down by that obviously heavy metal cross.
And at the same time, the monster's skull, with a metal cross still stuck to it, finally shattered into bits.
'...What the hell just happened?'
Choi Kahng-Sik was understandably left speechless by this development.
That gigantic monster was like a rat trapped under a person's foot, its limbs wildly flailing about helplessly.
"K, keureureu....."
But its movement also soon came to a stop.
"This is..."
Choi Kahng-Sik's brain kicked into gear fast enough to overheat at that moment.
He quickly shifted his gaze to the camera.
"Ahaha! Exactly as I've planned! This is indeed the power of a god! Two layers of traps!! Everyone, you've seen it, yes? A monster that lost its eyesight reacting to a thrown stone, only to die inside a trap!!"
┖ Oh my gosh. I'm getting goosebumps. (◎0◎)//
┖ Man, this MS is the real deal!!
┖ So f*cking cool! Should I become a Hunter, too?
┖ ㅇㅇ I defo acknowledge your greatness. (^ω^)b
Choi Kahng-Sik used the camera dangling on his neck to check out the viewers' comments - and got to confirm his suspicion.
Jackpot!
What he saw was outstandingly wonderful responses packed to the brim with sagacious wisdom.
'That's right! The only thing that matters is the end result!'
[A certain impatient god is snorting at you.]
[A certain god is astonished by your shamelessness.]
....Well, only the gods would know the truth from here onwards.
A short while later, Choi Kahng-Sik climbed back up to the ground with the rope dropped by the now bullet-less soldiers.
When he got back up to the surface, the officer in charge saluted him.
"Thank you! Everyone survived all thanks to you!"
They thought they would be dead meat for sure.
Then, the officer stared at the half-unconscious MS Hahn Joh-Seop sprawled on the ground, having exhausted his superpowers fighting a single monster.
'Compared to this young man, that guy is a total amateur.'
The whole thing kind of made the officer ponder about a kid with the worst aiming skills in history being entrusted with a gun.
The truly sad and cruel reality was that he had to entrust the fate of himself and his nation to these pathetic amateurs.
"That was really amazing!"
"Did you learn some kind of martial arts from somewhere?"
"May I have your contact details?"
Even the soldiers came up to Choi Kahng-Sik and spoke to him in admiration.
If a Hunter possessing some superpower knocked down the monster, they would've just let it go.
But it was the first time for them to see a powerless regular human being fighting a monster with nothing but his bare hands, never mind wielding a gun, and win.
Even if one looked through every corner of this world, one wouldn't find too many instances of such an event.
The reactions of the viewers weren't all that different, either.
┖ To think, he managed to crack open my wallet! ㅎ
┖ Mister MS? You're the pride of the regular people, dude!
┖ I'm looking forward to the 'next time'. ^^
*SFX for the noises from popping bones*
While reading the comments, Choi Kahng-Sik rotated his stiff, aching waist around. And before he knew it, the area gradually felt better, as if he was only suffering from a mild case of cramps.
'I thought I'd end up dying or becoming a cripple but, I'm fine now? Huh.'
Still, he decided to be more careful next time.
Well, that was a story for next time!
"Argh, ouch! Everyone, my waist, struck by the despicable Any-Won, is still hurting simply too much! I'll leave the clean-up to the MS Hahn Joh-Seop and head to a hospital immediately. Dear viewers? Would you be so kind as to take care of my hospital fees? Thank you!"
[A certain god is dismayed by you.]
[Another god is criticising you for being a fraud.]
"I will not accept this!!"
The MS Hahn Joh-Seop managed to raise his upper body off the ground and shouted out in anger. His reddened face reminded Choi Kahng-Sik of a boiling kettle for some reason.
Choi Kahng-Sik stopped searching for a nearby hospital with his phone and frowned deeply.
"About what? You mean, my hospital fees?"
"No, not that! Who in their right minds give a d*mn about that pocket change?! Hey you, Parachute! I challenge you!!"
'And why is this moron spouting this nonsense out of the blue?'
From Choi Kahng-Sik's perspective, this was one demand he could definitely not accept. The b*stard's superpower was strong enough to kill a monster in one hit, after all. Since he was definitely a weak little human, there was no point in even mentioning it.
So, then. What should he do about this nonsense?
It was then, he came up with an excellent idea.
"You, can it be...? Are you trying to cause people to fight each other even when combining our strengths is barely enough?! Holy cow! You've completely lost your mind over such a petty jealousy, haven't you?!"
Annnd this was that idea.
"I haven't lost my mind!!"
"That's like, your opinion, man." (TL: Sorry, couldn't resist. The Big Lebowski reference...)
┖ Would you look at Hahn Joh-Seop's stinking character? ㅋㅋ
┖ That b*stard, I knew he'd be like that.
┖ Hey, uncle. You shouldn't live like that, you know? (≥0≤)/
The MS Hahn Joh-Seop used to be pretty popular. However, at this rate, wouldn't he transform into the human trash of Korea pretty soon?
The frightened handsome Hunter hastily spat out some excuses to save himself.
"No, no! That's not it! It's a misunderstanding! I'm just trying to invite him to an MS coordinated hunting that'll be happening next week!"
"What did you say? I can't hear you."
'Will you stop wasting time and speak up, you dumb prick?'
"Keuhk!! We were trying to keep it as a secret right until the day before the hunt itself...! Listen up, Parachute! Let's ask the best MS in Korea to judge who is better! I'm not trying to say that we should fight each other tooth and nail..."
"Yo, hold up! Did you just say the best MS in Korea?"
That unnecessarily proud MS Hahn Joh-Seop didn't hesitate with talking this person up just now. That meant he wasn't lying or exaggerating things.
The instincts of the Cameraman Choi Kahng-Sik, who rolled around in this field for a long time, was shouting out loud at him.
It was saying...
"Parachute, even you must've heard of this MS. Of course, We exchange a lot of ideas since we're on a first-name basis..."
"Okay, so who is it?"
"It's the MS Kim Soh-Yun."
"Call!"
….It was saying, he had to do this, whether it was a trap or not.
He was a Cameraman until now, so as an MS, he was still a noob. If he met a first-class MS, not someone third-rate like Yu Il-Ahm, he might get to learn the secrets to maintaining popularity.
This is definitely not about the money.
No, this was all to become stronger than now!
[A certain god is wondering if the new character will be a woman.]
[A certain impatient god is asking if she is pretty.]
[Another god is getting really interested.]
[Number of viewers: 4]
….Well, because the godly audience rating equaled strength for him.
'I've taken my first step.'
While holding the camera, Choi Kahng-Sik glared at the blue sky above.
Even now, just a moment of distraction would bring back the memories of that day. He could still remember the tens of thousands of blades raining down from beyond the fluffy clouds.
'The Bul-Raid.'
That b*stard was a five-star ranked monster.
And just as its name implied, it was the most powerful monster that not one person had managed to subjugate even now. (TL: "Bul" in its name signifies "impossible" in Korean. Wait, I have mentioned that before, haven't I?)
The terrifying might of that creature was far, far beyond what the lowest one-star monsters he fought today were capable of. That was why he had to get stronger.
So, he needed to gather more and more viewers...!!
[A new god has joined and is taking a seat.]
[A certain impatient god is expecting some scenes of romance.]
[Another god is getting very excited.]
[Number of viewers: 5]
"..."
Honestly, what little faith he had in the gods was dissipating real fast.
< Chapter 8: Viewers (4) > Fin.