Ch.13Dragon-Shaped Monster

“A monster in the middle of downtown…?”

Ten years had already passed since I was reincarnated into this world.

Even now, I couldn’t help but swallow nervously at moments like this.

“Everyone please evacuate to the basement of the department store!”

True to a world where monsters appear, department store employees calmly began evacuating people as soon as the sirens sounded.

If there were shelters nearby, it might be different.

For buildings far from shelters, this kind of evacuation method was usually the best option.

“Excuse me.”

People were lining up to go underground via the stairs.

In contrast, I started running and barely made it outside through the department store entrance just before it locked down.

“S-sir?! It’s dangerous outside!”

“I’ll be fine! Please evacuate everyone else first!”

Ten years ago.

After successfully resolving “The Smiling Monster Incident” in Busan, I was officially classified as a National Disaster-Level monster after my Kaijufication.

When the news reported “Korea’s first National Disaster-Level monster appears!” showing footage of me on an aircraft carrier deck, I truly felt my heart drop.

Well, fortunately, they only did some devilish editing to make it seem like I was attacking the carrier.

I was relieved that my identity hadn’t been exposed.

‘Thanks to that, I haven’t been able to use Kaijufication since that day…’

A National Disaster-Level monster was one whose mere appearance would cause a state of emergency to be declared in the country.

Because of this, if I were to transform into a monster just to catch a few average C-level monsters that typically appear in Korea…

“Ah, aaah! It’s the Monster of Jamsil!”

“It’s National Disaster-Level!”

“Tell the President to declare a state of emergency immediately!”

…it would clearly mark the beginning of massive chaos.

My Kaijufication would be like using a fire extinguisher to blow out a candle, so I haven’t been able to transform for the past ten years.

However, that doesn’t mean I’ve just been sitting around doing nothing and evacuating like everyone else.

Besides Kaijufication, I had knowledge of the original work that I’d accumulated until I became a veteran.

“Kieeeeeeek.”

The usually bustling Myeong-dong streets, crowded with both locals and foreigners on weekends, were now completely empty.

It felt strange seeing such a normally busy place so deserted.

At that moment, I quickly looked up at the screech coming from the sky.

And there it was—a monster with a massive body that couldn’t even be compared to a bird.

Looking more like a pterosaur from ancient times than a bird, I could immediately identify what it was.

‘D-level monster Birdnight! They always appear in groups, so there must be at least five to ten of them that appeared simultaneously!’

Species name: Birdnight.

A flying monster about 3 meters in length, with a single specimen rated as E-level in terms of danger.

However, what raised their threat level to D was their numbers.

Like animals that move in packs, they always emerged from gates in large numbers, and they seemed to have some kind of signaling organ in their bodies.

When one individual was in danger, the entire pack would stop hunting and swarm together to perform what was essentially a “gang attack”—quite annoying creatures.

‘Even though they’re classified as the lowest E-level threat… that essentially means only D-level Hunters and above can deal with them comfortably. Someone like me wouldn’t stand a chance.’

Even the weakest monsters were all dangerous by my current standards.

To even the weakest Birdnight, I was just good prey that didn’t even require calling for backup.

Yet despite not being able to transform, the reason I came to the scene instead of evacuating was simple.

‘Found it!’

This was the time when I could gain the most growth points.

“Hey kid, are you okay?”

“Waaah! I… I got separated from my mom…!”

“Alright. Stop crying now. I’ll help you find your mom.”

“…Really?”

Monster appearances typically occurred in crowded urban areas.

Because of this, just like in the original work, there were always “stranded victims” who couldn’t evacuate in time and needed rescue—like the boy whose hand I was holding now.

And when these stranded victims were safely evacuated, you earned a lot of bonus experience points.

Well, since reality had become a game without visible stat windows, I wasn’t entirely sure if this would help me like it did in the original work.

‘I need to do whatever I can to get stronger. And if I know how to save people, I can’t just ignore it.’

I know the strategy for defeating almost every monster that appears in Korea.

And knowing how to defeat them also means I know very well how to avoid them.

“B-big brother… I’m so scared I might scream…”

“If you want to scream, go ahead and scream as loud as you want.”

“Huh?”

“Those pterosaurs flying up there? Despite appearances, they don’t have ‘ears.’ Instead, they have highly developed senses, so unless we’re underground with them, they won’t hear us no matter how loudly we scream.”

“I-I see!”

The boy’s eyes sparkled upon hearing my words.

Since all the stores were already locked, I had no choice but to head toward the large shelter where evacuees would be gathered, as always.

Meanwhile, the Birdnights kept swooping over us, and each time they did, the boy would shout for them to go away.

And when he saw that the monsters really did just pass by, his eyes sparkled at me again.

“Big brother, you’re amazing! Are you a Hunter too?”

“Me? No. I’m not a Hunter.”

“Really? But you know so much about monsters!”

“Yeah. But I found out that being smart alone isn’t enough to become a Hunter.”

Birdnights also had a characteristic of disliking dark places.

So we mainly moved through gloomy alleyways, and in the process, we encountered other stranded victims who had hidden in alleys after failing to evacuate in time.

The number of people following me gradually increased.

By the time we reached the end of the alley and faced the main road, I had become a guide leading a procession of about 50 stranded victims.

“Look over there! It’s the shelter!”

“We’re saved!”

“Big brother! You’re really amazing!”

According to the setting guide, more than 90% of humans who fail to evacuate in time get eaten by monsters.

Cases of people surviving by making it to a shelter late were extremely rare, and the group of stranded victims now facing such a possibility erupted in joyful laughter.

But the real problem was just beginning.

“Young man, can we all just run there like this?”

“…No. The path is too exposed. Even if we run without stopping, it would take about 3 minutes to cover that distance… and in that time, all but one or two of us would be eaten by monsters.”

“That can’t be…”

“Damn. What should we do?”

These creatures were hunters that snatched prey not from the ground, but from the sky.

If they dive-bombed at sports car speeds with their jaws open, we’d be killed in the blink of an eye.

“What if we just keep hiding in the alley? Those creatures hate dark places anyway, right?”

Of course, that was an option.

But if we did that…

“If Hunters don’t arrive within 10 minutes, we’ll all be eaten.”

“W-why?”

“Because they dislike darkness, but that doesn’t mean they can’t approach it.”

Of course, right now they’re busy flying around the city center, searching for prey in bright areas.

That’s why we’ve been safe so far.

But once they finish searching all the bright areas, like humans rummaging through the refrigerator when there’s nothing to eat, they’ll definitely expand their search to include the alleys.

And I estimated we had about 10 minutes left before that happened.

“If the Birdnights find us before the Hunters arrive, everyone here will certainly be eaten instantly. Even if we try to run, they’ll break through the alleyways and track us to the end.”

“Damn it…”

“So there’s no way out?”

“Well…”

If only…

If I had even the power of an E-level Hunter, the number of avoidance methods available to me would have increased exponentially.

But this seemed to be my limit right now.

A large shelter about a 3-minute run away.

About 50 people to escort.

Among them were those who would have difficulty running, like the boy I first rescued and a pregnant woman.

‘I didn’t expect there to be so many… Why were there only one or two visible until now, and suddenly such a large group of stranded victims formed?’

If there had been fewer people, I would have had a few more options.

Evacuating this many people was practically impossible… no, to be honest, it was simply impossible.

And of course, I couldn’t just select a few and abandon the rest.

“Ugh…!”

The ultimate method would be Kaijufication, but…

Is that really the only option left?

“Big brother… huh?”

That’s when it happened.

I felt the direction of the boy, whose hand I had been holding since I found him, gradually shifting upward.

“Kid?”

He couldn’t have suddenly grown taller.

Wondering what was happening, I turned my head, and along with everyone around me, I could only hold my breath.

A bird-like monster had poked its head between the alleys and was lifting the boy up by the collar with the tip of its beak.

The Birdnight’s empty black eyes met mine.

Then it turned to look at the boy’s face, which was covered in dark shadows.

He seemed to have forgotten even to cry, frozen by the terrifying fear.

“B-big brother…”

The small hand I was holding trembled.

“Save me…”

“Damn it!”

When I shouted, the frozen atmosphere around us filled with people’s screams.

At the same time, the Birdnight jerked its head upward, snatching the boy from my hand, and opened its beak to devour the child falling in a parabolic arc.

I had been too complacent.

Because I’d done this in a game, after succeeding a few times, I must have thought I was something special.

I should have been prepared for this situation all along.

Given how things had turned out, I had no choice.

I had to do it.

“UOOOOOOOOOH-!”

I wasn’t cold-hearted enough to stand by and watch, afraid of the aftermath, when I could save a child.

So as I roared and began to transform—

BANG!

“…Huh?”

The Birdnight’s head, which had been opening its beak, instantly exploded into a red pulp.

And landing among us confused onlookers while holding the unconscious boy was a white-haired woman in a suit.

Sharp eyes. Dignified appearance. Above all, those blood-red glowing eyes.

I couldn’t help but gape as she handed the unconscious boy to me and stared intently at me.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes…”

I see.

Come to think of it, this meant the original story had now begun.

“You’re Hunter Yoo Cheran, aren’t you…?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Her name was Yoo Cheran.

Her occupation was Fighter Hunter, and she was the senior Hunter who would guide the protagonist when he first entered the Hunter Association.

She was also the so-called “fake heroine” who would die in the prologue battle.