Ch.9National Authority-Level VS National Disaster-Level

# The Smiling Monster Incident

Why was ‘The Smiling Monster Incident’ called the worst incident since Korea’s establishment?

The reason was simple.

It was because the current forces at this location, following the original storyline from 10 years ago, were insufficient to stop Cheonsa (Angel).

Ms. Rolling would be defeated by Cheonsa, and the Navy Base, including Mr. Lee Seokgyu, would be completely annihilated by that creature.

That was the original history.

So when Mrs. Rolling was trapped in the ring of light, I immediately ran outside.

Of course, while transformed.

The only advantage of being a Kaijufication Hunter was the ability stats that could rise up to 19.

Running across the water’s surface at overwhelming speed was nothing.

And so, leaping toward Busan Port just before the original desperate history could unfold…

“Grrrr…”

“Ha, ha…”

I came face to face with Cheonsa, the starting point of it all.

“The monster from Jamsil has made contact with Cheonsa!”

“Two humanoid monsters at once…”

“Korea… at least Busan is now…”

The Navy Base, watching through monitors as two humanoid monsters faced each other at close range, was too exhausted even to despair.

“Rolling…”

Even Lee Seokgyu collapsed, his strength leaving him at the sight of two humanoid monsters appearing.

But unlike her father…

“…Fighting.”

Why was that?

For reasons unknown, Sophia couldn’t view this newly appeared jet-black monster negatively.

“Please protect Mom, Monster mister!”

With pure heart, she pressed her hands together and prayed earnestly.

BOOM-!

That prayer definitely reached its destination.

The next moment, the scene unfolding on the monitor left not only the Navy Base…

But also the USFK soldiers on deck who witnessed it directly, completely dumbfounded.

“The monster…”

“Attacked…”

“Another monster?”

The Jamsil monster had driven its fist into Cheonsa’s face before it could even react.

Mr. Lee Seokgyu.

Brigadier General Talisman.

The Chief of Naval Operations.

And even Rolling behind them—everyone was shocked.

***

Before fighting a monster, as an experienced player, I would normally analyze the opponent’s movements, characteristics, and attack patterns first.

However.

“Huff, huff…”

Mrs. Rolling.

The woman who adopted me because of her daughter but cared for me like her own child—my first mother.

When I saw her enduring such pain…

“Kyaha… kuhek?!”

BOOM-!

“UWOOOOOOOOOOH!!”

My body reacted before my mind could.

Losing all reason, I roared like a true monster and drove my fist straight into the creature’s face.

Its face was quite delicate, being humanoid.

Cheonsa flew all the way to the edge of the deck with a bloody nose.

“Kyaha… hahahaha!”

About to fall into the sea, it barely managed to spread its wings and fly up to avoid the crisis.

But the damage was done.

“Puhek…!?”

Trying to laugh again, it coughed up blood and staggered momentarily.

The pain must have been severe, as it even dissolved the rings of light that had bound the soldiers on deck.

‘So you don’t have the luxury to focus elsewhere?’

“Hunter! Are you alright?!”

“I’ll come support you right away!”

“…! Step back for now. Cheonsa was just knocked back, but there’s still another monster here!”

“Ah…!”

The freed soldiers immediately tried to rescue Mrs. Rolling but halted their steps.

They turned to look at me with sweat-drenched faces.

But that was all.

Swoosh.

“?!”

“The monster…”

“Is making way for us…?”

My target was only that Cheonsa creature.

To prevent Mrs. Rolling and the soldiers from getting caught in our fight…

I deliberately started walking toward the edge of the deck where Cheonsa had risen, naturally creating distance from Mrs. Rolling.

“N-Now! Quickly!”

“Hunter, let me support you!”

“Ah, yes… thank you…”

The soldiers moved swiftly again to help Mrs. Rolling get inside the ship.

‘Phew. That’s a relief.’

Just as I was sighing in relief…

“Watch out!”

“Kruk?”

Mrs. Rolling shouted toward me from the entrance to the ship’s interior.

As I turned to see what was happening…

Zing.

“Kruk?!”

“Kyahahahahahaha!”

While I was distracted, my body was fixed in place by Cheonsa’s ring of light.

And then, as if it had been waiting for this moment, a massive shadow blocked the sky above me.

“That’s…!”

“Insane…”

From the ring of light, half the size of an aircraft carrier, a gigantic hand extended, clenched into a fist, and came crashing down toward me.

“Rolling! Get inside now!”

KWAAAANG-!!

The entire aircraft carrier tilted violently.

Fortunately, everyone had evacuated inside before that, so Rolling and the soldiers were safe by lying flat on the floor.

The impact was even faintly felt at the Navy Base watching through the monitors.

It was unbelievable, but an earthquake had occurred in an instant from the power of a single being.

“To create such a massive energy wave…!”

“So this is what they call a National Disaster-Level monster…”

“Does this mean even monsters fighting each other failed?”

They needed to deal with Cheonsa here and now, by any means necessary.

But seeing the creature’s true power, everyone in the Navy Base felt their resolve crumbling before its overwhelming might.

‘Is the difference between A-rank and one level higher really this significant…!’

Even Lee Seokgyu, the Army Chief of Staff with National Authority-Level Hunter powers, was sweating nervously when…

“…It’s not over yet.”

“Sophia?”

“The monster mister… hasn’t fallen yet!”

Sophia alone stared at the monitor with a confident face.

And just as she said…

“Oh my god…!”

The ship’s dining hall was in chaos after the carrier tilted.

Brigadier General Talisman, getting back on his feet, inadvertently let out an exclamation when he saw the scene on deck displayed on the screen.

“Grrrr…!”

“Kyaha?!”

Cheonsa’s mouth, which had been about to laugh in celebration of victory, clamped shut in fear.

The impact was powerful enough to nearly shatter the aircraft carrier’s deck, which was designed to withstand any modern weapon’s impact.

Yet the jet-black monster was still standing after taking a house-sized fist like divine punishment from the heavens.

Its head had been hit directly and was slightly bent downward, but otherwise…

It was completely fine.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAH-!!”

Then it began to roar.

Crack!

It tore apart the ring of light fixing its body through brute force alone, then crouched down, causing the cracked deck to sink further.

Whoosh.

Then, gathering power in both legs, it leaped up, piercing through the fist that had tried to crush it, and reached just below Cheonsa in the blink of an eye.

“KRAAAAAAAH!”

What happened next was obvious.

Before Cheonsa could even be surprised, my knee was driven into its abdomen.

The force pierced through the air, through Cheonsa’s body, and flew high into the sky.

“My God…”

“The sky…!”

It punched a hole through the dark clouds passing high above the aircraft carrier.

“The dark clouds over Busan Port have… disappeared.”

“It changed the weather…?”

“This is too absurd…”

Both the Navy Base and those inside the carrier were completely stunned by the appearance of a monster even more terrifying than a National Disaster-Level one.

Meanwhile…

By this point, most opponents would be dead.

But as expected of the monster rated as the worst in Korea’s history even in the original ending…

“Kya, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

Growing stronger during battle was supposed to be the protagonist’s privilege.

Yet Cheonsa not only regenerated its ruptured abdomen but even sprouted another pair of wings from its back.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“This, this can’t be…”

“What’s happening?”

“The entity named Cheonsa’s abilities are increasing further…”

“What?!”

“Currently, our observation radar can only measure its agility, but the, the numbers…! Eek?!”

“Cheonsa’s agility is rising! It’s, it’s 15 now!”

“What…”

“Its ability score increased by 2 at once?!”

It summoned a ring of light in front of its lips—the same kind it had used to bind others—and began devouring it.

Then, from its front, instead of wings, thin yet horrifyingly skeletal arms emerged.

The next moment.

Whoosh.

Its figure disappeared from the screen.

“Kyaha!”

“Kruk?!”

Its fist, exceeding the speed of sound, had already struck the jet-black monster’s abdomen, and they both fell back onto the aircraft carrier’s deck.

What followed was a series of devastating scenes.

The jet-black monster couldn’t even stand properly, turning its feet inward and unable to raise its arms, keeping both fists at its waist.

Meanwhile, Cheonsa, with whip-like arm movements, was creating sonic booms repeatedly, seemingly intent on tearing its fellow monster to shreds.

“It’s over…”

“Yes, it seems so.”

“Then I’ll be the next to face it.”

The Navy Base had already determined the outcome and was deciding who would be the next to confront Cheonsa after the Jamsil monster.

Without any discussion, Lee Seokgyu volunteered himself.

“Dad…”

“Sophia. Dad will definitely bring Mom back safely. So just wait a little bit, okay?”

Before departing, he knelt on one knee before his daughter who called him, trying to comfort his beloved child like a caring father.

“That’s not it. Look…”

But following Sophia’s finger pointing beyond her father, he turned around.

“Kyaha!? Kyahahahahahaha?!!?”

Lee Seokgyu’s warm smile froze as his mouth fell open.

Meanwhile, in the aircraft carrier’s dining hall, Brigadier General Talisman noticed the stance the jet-black monster had been maintaining while taking hits:

Feet turned inward to form a triangle, lowering the center of gravity—the so-called Sanchin-dachi.

“What do you think, Miss Rolling? The stance I’m showing now and the one that monster is taking are similar, right?”

“Yes… they’re exactly the same…”

“Hmm… then this confirms it.”

This was the most basic stance of a certain “martial art.”

Always advancing.

Always rigid.

Always enduring.

Power without justice is incompetence.

Conversely, justice without power is violence—so teaches this martial art.

A single flower blooming after enduring pain.

“Kyahahak?!”

Cheonsa, having revived from death and evolved.

It finally realized why the jet-black monster hadn’t resisted its attacks and had only been taking hits—when its own arms broke instead.

The creature never had the option to “dodge” attacks in the first place.

“The, the entity named Cheonsa’s arms…”

“Completely torn off! Presumed lost!”

“The attacker took damage instead…?”

The Navy Base headquarters couldn’t hide their shock.

On the other hand, Brigadier General Talisman, who had served with the U.S. Forces in Japan in the past…

Was very familiar with this martial art that, unlike others, taught how to take hits first.

“To endure to such an extent. I don’t know how that creature came to use this martial art, but… as someone from the same school, I’m impressed.”

He had learned it too, but could never use it in actual combat.

Seeing a monster perfectly execute Kyokushin, he could only admire it.

The next moment.

“Kruk?”

‘Is it over?’

“Kyahak?!”

Just as Cheonsa, having lost both arms, was about to fly up into the sky again…

I stomped on its foot to prevent it from escaping.

“Grrrrrk.”

‘I endured.’

“Kruk. Kruk.”

‘Now it’s your turn to suffer.’

To truly end all of this.

This creature that would have destroyed all the dreams and future of South Korea in the original timeline.

I channeled everything I had into one punch and drove it into the face of the howling Cheonsa.

‘Kyokushin Karate – Basic Straight Punch.’

BANG.

The sound was neither too loud nor too quiet—insignificant compared to a fighter jet’s noise, merely the sound of air being pierced.

But as they say, even a butterfly’s wings can cause a typhoon.

The single blow that shattered Cheonsa’s head continued through the aircraft carrier’s deck and…

“The, the sea…!”

Literally split the vast waters of Busan Port in half, all the way to the horizon.