Ch.153153. Weakening Trust.

News had already spread within the Monster Suppression Organization. The monsters selected as heroes were few in number.

They disappeared without any contact? And it was entirely plausible that they were killed by informants.

[When playing hero, don’t do anything unnecessary. That monster will be active and will kill, so prepare thoroughly. At the very least, be ready for tailing or ambushes. Most were taken care of by surprise attacks.]

“You worry too much. Why are the executives so keen on checking everything? Thanks to that, the three of us have to stick together like a combat unit.”

There were three monsters here in total.

Though all three were S-class, being monsters meant they typically had power exceeding normal S-class. This was more than enough to handle what appeared to be a single enemy.

“Who would dare approach when the three of us are holding the line?”

“Let’s activate the debuffs and get this over with quickly.”

The monster in Raikou’s form prepared to constantly discharge electricity, while behind it, a moth monster was spreading debuffs in all directions.

Beside them, a white gorilla was ready to charge at any moment.

With the sound of a wall crumbling, they all grinned.

“Here it comes!”

“The three of us are more than enough!”

The tail of a mechanical wolf appeared. Above it, the helmet of a wolf wearing gray armor was looking at them.

A brief moment of silence, perhaps one second.

After sizing each other up during this second, they immediately entered combat.

The only difference was that the mechanical wolf’s assessment was faster.

The mechanical wolf was already ignoring the white gorilla and slipping to the side.

Its first target was the moth monster. Debuffs always take priority.

Raikou, the fastest among them, reacted to this, but the wolf had already factored this into its calculations.

[It can’t discharge lightning with allies nearby. So it will charge in.]

Caught precisely by this prediction, Raikou ultimately rushed in with speed.

In line with this prediction, the mechanical wolf’s hand blade was already gleaming sharply.

It forced Raikou to charge in while targeting this opponent from the beginning.

The moment its claws pierced Raikou’s abdomen, the mechanical wolf deliberately raised its hand toward the forelegs.

As the forelegs were attacked and spurted blood, it unleashed a flurry of attacks toward the moth.

With this single violent attack, the poison moth was instantly slaughtered, leaving only the injured Raikou and the white gorilla.

The white gorilla’s only strength was its raw power. The only thing it could rely on was the monster’s inherent ability.

‘What’s going on? Surely a mechanical wolf should be at our level?’

If they fought together in formation, they could certainly handle it.

This should have been common sense.

‘What the hell is that thing? Seriously?’

They had sized each other up equally, yet the battle was decided in an instant.

It was the difference in countermeasures, the difference in approach.

The white gorilla clearly saw that the mechanical wolf had been slowed by the debuff.

It was indeed stuttering. But Raikou, who could have swept the opponent, was injured.

With a single exchange, the mechanical wolf took the debuff, while they lost their means of counterattack.

‘Even with the debuff, I can only attack straightforwardly! Its judgment… did it predict all of this?’

It was truly insane. The white gorilla was just a strength-based entity; even with the support of its summoned spirits, it could only charge head-on.

Was it possible to win one-on-one in a direct confrontation?

That was impossible.

Raikou struggled to stand on its remaining three legs, but a Raikou without mobility was meaningless.

‘Still!’

Raikou discharged electricity again and moved at high speed, but soon collided with a wall and rolled. The white gorilla monster swallowed hard.

‘No, executives, isn’t this too much? This isn’t something the three of us can handle together.’

It was strong. Surely in a 3-on-1 situation, they should have had the advantage.

But with a single move, that advantage was shattered. All because of judgment.

If they had made the right judgment at the crucial moment, they could have given it a hard time. But they were helplessly crushed by the opponent’s predictions and decisions.

‘Now I understand. That thing is definitely human. It has human intelligence!’

[You… are human, right? A human like us…]

The belated cry was futile. They all fell with screams.

*

The Monster Suppression Organization was also busy with countermeasures. Park Je-moon picked up the report.

“Our heroes are being killed.”

“So it’s beginning as expected.”

Flowing Galaxy narrowed his eyes and received a document from the monster faction.

[…Based on the circumstances, it’s highly likely to be someone associated with our side. We’ll take responsibility for this damage as a byproduct of our plan. We’ll send additional monsters for support, so use them as you see fit.]

The monster faction prepared an “settlement fee” as an apology for Flowing Galaxy’s protest.

This settlement would be extremely useful for the Monster Suppression Organization as well.

Flowing Galaxy circulated this to the other executives and then returned to discussing the main culprit.

“Desire for fame, selfishness in believing only they can save humanity, the desire to take all the credit, the superiority complex of being different from others.”

“Come on, people aren’t stupid enough to believe someone’s going around killing. They’ll just think it’s a conflict.”

Jino said this and got smacked by Kwon Ah-sun.

“Idiot. It’s not that simple. We’ll make it look that way, won’t we?”

“Correct.”

Flowing Galaxy smiled with satisfaction.

“I already told you to wait for the enemy’s tactics. Judging by its method, it attacked during transformation. In other words, it waited until our agents had finished their work and let their guard down.”

“It’s tailing them. Come to think of it, the culprit hasn’t appeared recently on the dates the monster faction informed us about. This means it definitely knew when the monsters would appear.”

Flowing Galaxy agreed with Park Je-moon’s words.

“Knowing that, it waited and followed them. That’s why I instructed them not to carelessly revert from monster form from now on.”

“But we need to be cautious about the wolf entity. They say it survived a fight with Dokgo Jun.”

“With that Dokgo Jun?”

The expressions of the other executives changed.

Dokgo Jun’s infamy was well-known to all. The man who had cornered and pressured the Monster Suppression Organization the most.

Few among the executives here could fight Dokgo Jun one-on-one.

At best, only the chief executive Flowing Galaxy or Astro, whose attack methods were unconventional.

A powerful being that even Dokgo Jun couldn’t capture? The executives couldn’t help but flinch.

“Well… given that man’s disposition, he wouldn’t cooperate with that monster. But its skills are real.”

“Then what should we do?”

Jino panicked. Morgan, with fox ears, calmed him down.

“Relax. They’re not cooperating, so we just need to create a justification for Dokgo Jun to attack that monster, right?”

“You’re quick-witted. That’s exactly it. The best scenario would be for us to handle it ourselves, but that would be difficult.”

Astro nodded with satisfaction.

Kwon Ah-sun was drawing in the air with a brush.

In her drawing were the unidentified monster and Dokgo Jun.

“If we can’t kill it, we’ll make ‘society’ kill it. Currently, people’s perception of monsters helping humans is improving.”

“We benefit from that too, but only as long as it doesn’t interfere with our plans. So we’re going to shatter their trust.”

Park Je-moon continued with a smirk.

“We’ll eliminate the distinction between helpful monsters. Suddenly attack, then help, sow doubt. This will worsen public opinion, right?”

Yoon Dong-ha, who had been quiet, nodded.

The rest was obvious. If trust disappears and public opinion turns against helpful monsters because it’s hard to distinguish friend from foe?

Dokgo Jun will act. People won’t try to protect that monster anymore, and since it’s indistinguishable, killing it won’t carry much responsibility.

The Monster Suppression Organization was aiming for a two-birds-with-one-stone strategy.

Using the person they find most troublesome to kill the monster they find most troublesome.

“One month. That’s enough time to worsen public opinion. For now, let them all play hero, and we’ll enjoy watching.”

“Ah, I have one more idea about that.”

Yoon Dong-ha cautiously raised his hand.

“Since we’re doing this, why not corner it a bit more? Having Dokgo Jun handle it is the last resort, right? Let’s make it more interesting in the meantime. For the sake of making an enjoyable film, let’s add a more stimulating scenario.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’re drooling. You’re quite the pervert too, aren’t you?”

Kwon Ah-sun laughed as she watched Yoon Dong-ha hastily wipe his drool.

*

[M points acquired!]

– Monster Points: 16

– DNA Points: 21,400

– M Points: 13,500

M points definitely accumulate well when active in human form.

I checked the time on my wristwatch.

“It’s 4 PM. Tomorrow’s the test day! Let’s finish early today! It wouldn’t be good to overdo it and be affected on promotion day, right?”

“That’s true. Should we finish early and rest?”

“Absolutely.”

In preparation for tomorrow’s promotion test, we decided to end here and all went our separate ways.

We could have had dinner together, but I didn’t have time for that.

[Monster Daily News Information Updated]

The Monster Daily News information was updated again. That means something’s happening outside the usual schedule.

After arriving home and having dinner, I went out again.

I need to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible. Their intentions are obvious.

The method is the same. The monsters block the brakes and leave, and I catch them.

Today was the same as usual. I locate the target and prepare for a surprise attack.

Of course, they’re not fools, so they’re probably waiting, but still.

This time they changed their target to the mountains. For mountains, should I go with insect or bird form?

As always, I headed to where the smell of blood was strong. Still, a 3-on-1 like last time is dangerous, so I tried to look around more and check the interior.

As I was looking through the windows for traces, I finally saw the monsters.

Two monsters and one human woman. The woman was collapsed.

After identifying the monster species, I immediately transformed into a bird Sura.

In optical camouflage state, I targeted them precisely from the sky.

The moment my attack penetrated the roof and hit exactly where they were standing, one monster was instantly killed.

The second one wasn’t a problem either. I handled it routinely and rescued the collapsed woman.

Fortunately, unlike last time, I didn’t take them down after they had already killed someone.

I dropped the woman off at a nearby police station and flew back home.

“I did it!”

Safely back home, I felt immense joy at successfully rescuing someone for the first time.

Why did I feel like I could face tomorrow’s promotion test with peace of mind?

But my refreshed mood was shattered in the morning.

[Is it a faction among monsters? Or internal strife? There have been many monsters helping people. But now footage has been captured of these helpful monsters attacking each other.]

The scene of me attacking those monsters yesterday was playing on TV.

And there was an interview with the woman I had rescued.

[I suddenly don’t understand. They rescued me and let me rest… but when I woke up, a new monster had killed them all! What’s going on? I want to know too. Why did they have to die?]

At that moment, the word “trap” came to mind.