Chapter 14: Trivia

Meanwhile, the boy Jo Sung-Il had met earlier was groaning, caught in the explosion.

“Ugh….”

The gate to the house he had run into was shattered.

Lying on the ground, the boy slowly turned to look at the creature that had chased him.

Click. Click, click.

A bipedal monster resembling a crane fly.

Its forearms were scythe-like, as if taken from a praying mantis.

It held a small green orb in its mouth. It was the explosive substance that had just blown up the gate.

“Oh my goodness, my baby!”

A grandmother rushed out of the house, shouting as she found the boy.

The boy, instead of crying, yelled back at her,

“G-Grandma, run!”

Click, click?

The monster’s gaze shifted to the grandmother.

She ran to the boy and hugged him, swallowing hard as she met the monster’s gaze.

The monster tilted its head back, rolling the orb in its mouth.

Just as it was about to spit the orb at them,

WHAM!

A broom suddenly appeared, striking the monster’s face.

The monster, startled, stumbled backward and looked at its attacker.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Grandpa!”

The boy shouted as he saw his grandfather.

“It’s alright! Stay put!”

He had been planning to return home after a long day working in the fields.

Then, he saw smoke and heard an explosion from the direction of his house and rushed back.

“I’ll take care of this!”

He swung the broom relentlessly at the monster.

Thwack! Wham!

The monster, initially feigning being hit, suddenly froze like a stone statue.

Thwack! Thwack, thwack….

The grandfather’s grip on the broom weakened.

The monster, as if asking if he was done, tilted its head.

“Y-You d*mned….”

Terror filled the grandfather’s face.

The monster didn’t miss it.

Click, click, click.

It tilted its head mockingly.

The grandfather could only stand there, drenched in cold sweat.

The monster slowly approached.

No one knew when or where the orb in its mouth would be launched.

The grandfather, the grandmother, and the boy.

This unprecedented disaster seemed to spell doom for this small family.

“H-Hiyaaaaaah!”

But just as the grandfather, overcoming his fear of death, swung the broom again in a last-ditch effort,

Swish!

As if tired of the charade, the monster swung its bladed arm down in a swift, downward strike.

“Grandpa!”

The boy’s scream echoed through the yard.

Clang!

A metallic sound.

The boy, who had clenched his fists, anticipating a gruesome outcome, gasped involuntarily.

“M-Monster.”

He wasn’t looking at the monster threatening his family.

His gaze was fixed on the man who had blocked the monster’s attack with the armor on his forearm.

“Monster mister!”

Jo Sung-Il wanted to chuckle at the nickname, but he refrained.

Kids these days spoke their minds freely.

Knowing the boy didn’t mean “monster” in a negative way, Jo Sung-Il simply observed the gruesome sight before him.

“You’re quite hideous, aren’t you?”

The monster emitted a strange, clicking noise in response to Jo Sung-Il’s words.

“Do you even understand what I’m saying?”

Swish!

The monster swung its other arm at Jo Sung-Il.

Crack!

But Jo Sung-Il blocked the attack with his other hand.

“Your blades seem a bit dull.”

Squeeze!

Jo Sung-Il grabbed both of the monster’s arms and tightened his grip.

“Perhaps hand-to-hand combat would give you a better chance?”

Jo Sung-Il jerked his arms upwards, lifting the monster into the air.

WHOOSH!

He swung the monster like a brush, sending it flying in a parabolic arc before slamming it into the ground.

Cough!

The orb rolled out of the monster’s mouth as it gasped for air.

The family’s faces paled.

Thud!

Jo Sung-Il stomped his foot, burying the orb in the ground.

KWAAAAABOOOOM!

An explosion erupted, but the orb, its power contained between Jo Sung-Il’s foot and the ground, dissipated without harming the family.

“You should play more interesting games with your orbs.”

Jo Sung-Il punched the monster in the abdomen.

Cough!

“Spit out what you have. Let me see.”

The monster shrieked in pain as Jo Sung-Il continued punching.

“I’m going easy on you.”

Jo Sung-Il’s eyes glowed, piercing the monster with his gaze.

“Spit it out.”

The monster couldn’t understand his words.

But unbeknownst to Jo Sung-Il, the pressure he exerted was clearly conveyed.

The monster, realizing Jo Sung-Il was using it as a punching bag for some reason, spat out the orbs.

Click, click, clatter.

Dozens of orbs, as if produced in a factory, spilled out of the monster’s mouth.

“So they don’t explode on their own.”

Jo Sung-Il smirked.

“I knew it from the moment you kept them in your mouth. They need to be activated, right? That’s why they don’t explode inside you.”

Cough!

“How are they activated?”

Based on the monster’s previous actions, he deduced that the orbs reacted with a substance secreted in its mouth, causing a chemical change.

“You need the secretions from your mouth, right?”

But those secretions were likely released only when the monster willed it.

“But it must be somewhere in your body.”

Jo Sung-Il raised his fist.

“Right here.”

KABOOM!

His fist slammed into the monster’s face.

The monster, unable to even scream, shuddered.

Fluid leaked from its shattered face.

“As expected.”

The fluid, upon contact with the orbs, caused their color to deepen.

“You were storing it in your sinuses, weren’t you?”

The monster thrashed wildly as Jo Sung-Il grinned.

The family watched, holding their breath.

The monster was terrified.

And the monstrous man before them was slowly leading it to its death, feeding on its fear.

Bzzt.

“Here it comes.”

The moment he felt it, Jo Sung-Il shoved an orb into the monster’s mouth.

“I wonder how it feels to explode from the inside.”

Keeek! Keeek!

“Swallow it.”

Jo Sung-Il punched the monster’s jaw, forcing it to swallow the orb.

The monster thrashed frantically, as if aware of its impending doom.

“Die, insect.”

ZZZZZZZZZZZZING!

KEEEEEEEEEEEK!

The orb’s vibration intensified, and the monster let out a long, final shriek.

BAAAAAAAAAAANG!

The monster’s abdomen swelled like a balloon and exploded.

Fluid splattered everywhere.

The force of the explosion sent its head and limbs flying like missiles.

Drip.

Only blood dripped from Jo Sung-Il’s hand, which had been gripping the monster.

“…Pathetic.”

Jo Sung-Il stood up.

Silence.

No more sounds, not even the monster’s cries, could be heard in the ravaged scene.

Gulp.

The family stared at Jo Sung-Il’s back, swallowing nervously.

The monster that had appeared suddenly, threatening to tear everything apart, and the man who had actually torn it apart, were standing before them.

What could they do?

All they could do was hold their breath and wait for him to move.

He turned his head.

His eyes glowed intensely, like a monster’s.

He had human skin, but his lips curled up grotesquely, and he wore armor that seemed to belong to a monster.

Just as they began to think he might be a monster himself,

“Are you alright?”

He asked about their well-being.

“I hope you’re okay.”

That was all he said.

No lengthy explanations about the situation, no mention of who he was.

He left the stunned family and walked away, then glanced back.

Thud, thud.

His gaze, which seemed about to leave them behind, suddenly fell on the boy.

“Thanks for the coins, kid.”

As the boy, previously consumed by fear, felt his heart melt at the man’s smile, the man turned and continued on his way.

The family remained frozen as he disappeared, their hearts filled with a newfound, silent admiration.