Chapter 54 : Secret (3)

That thing is unbeatable.

More accurately, I can’t beat it as I am now.

That was the thought that struck me the moment I saw ‘something’ on the second basement floor.

After becoming one of the strongest individuals, not just in the country but globally, my survival instinct, something I hadn’t felt even once

since then, was faintly ringing alarm bells.

Telling me to get out of this place immediately.

The sense of unease I felt before descending the stairs had now transformed into a distinct killing intent directed at me.

A sense of crisis I had never felt before, not even when crushing [Helbando], which was packed with relatively high-ranking users, crept over

my skin.

Just the killing intent alone was enough to give me goosebumps all over.

‘Wait, but if the killing intent is directed this way…’

…It meant that the monster stuck to the ceiling right in front of me had noticed me.

The moment I realized that fact, I met its eyes.

Even though I was cloaked in several layers of stealth magic, the creature was looking precisely where my face was located.

If my presence was detected, there was no longer a need to hold back.

The superior magic I had prepared in advance along with the stealth spells while descending the stairs was launched immediately.

Runic characters, containing a destructive power that deviated from the standard magic system, embroidered the air.

The killing intent the monster radiated towards me momentarily weakened.

Fortunately, it seemed distracted by the blue glowing characters in the darkness.

Getting distracted right in front of a dealer, especially a mage capable of unleashing high burst damage, was a foolish mistake even newbies,

adored by veterans for being cute, wouldn’t make.

‘Is its intelligence lower than I thought?’

In the blink of an eye, the creature descended to the floor and tried to touch the runic characters floating in the air with a heavily distorted

appendage, which I surmised was close to a hand.

However, its simple curiosity could not be satisfied.

The power contained within the sentence formed by dozens of runic characters, incomprehensible to anyone but those who have reached the

pinnacle of magic studies, known as sages—a streak of pure destructive power—exploded within the dark basement.

As the bright light subsided, I flew up using <Flight>.

White smoke billowed where the flash had passed, obscuring vision.

The creature was still alive within that smoke.

Judging by its roughened breathing, I had definitely succeeded in inflicting some damage, but its killing intent had paradoxically intensified.

The creature clearly recognized me as an enemy.

Inside the mist, a purple gleam flashed ominously.

The moment the smoke began to clear and its silhouette started to reveal itself— the monster, sporting a lion’s mane, broke through the

smoke, charging at me with the sound of horse hooves.

As it reached out with something resembling a human hand to grab me, I quickly increased the distance using <Blink>.

The creature that emerged from the smoke had a round hole in its body.

The middle of its torso.

A hole the size of a watermelon was pierced through the area where the most vital organs should be located for any bipedal creature, yet it

was rampaging vigorously.

However, the runner cannot beat the flyer.

This wasn’t just a metaphor; it was a proverb that applied to some extent in actual combat as well.

Changing position using <Flight> magic and casting harassing spells from the air, the creature couldn’t dare to keep up with my speed while

breaking through the stinging harassment.

‘I need to buy time like this, and this time use a more powerful Dragon Word Magic…’

Just as I was about to relax, thinking I could lead the battle to victory more easily than expected.

While I was momentarily casting a harassment spell, the layers of protective magic I had applied all over my body as insurance shattered in a

single instant.

I hadn’t lost sight of the creature, but precisely because of that, it was a completely unpredictable attack.

Fortunately, the impact wasn’t greater than the set performance of the protective magic, so the Mana Shield, a mage’s sort of last line of

defense and final protective measure, didn’t break.

There was no direct damage from the attack, but my body bounced off according to the principle of action-reaction and crashed into the

facility’s interior wall.

Naturally, the protective magic, long broken by the direct attack, couldn’t cushion the impact of hitting the wall.

Quickly casting protective magic again, I looked at the monster—the Chimera—that I had been unilaterally toying with.

“…Magic?”

Its third hand was condensing mana, drawing a magic circle.

“It wasn’t just a physical brawler.”

Though not the strongest magic, it possessed a body durable enough to withstand <Astrape>, which could inflict annoyingly high damage

even on high-level users in one go, could use magic, and had ranker-level physical abilities.

It was completely broken.

However, just because the opponent is a broken character doesn’t mean there’s no way to win.

If simple performance determined everything, it would have been impossible for me, who chose the trash Dragonkin race, to reach rank 3.

There’s always a way.

That was my belief, the very driving force that had propelled me to the ranker position.

I began casting magic once more.

As long as <Flight> and <Blink> existed, I had a significant advantage in terms of mobility.

Increasing the distance again, this time I had to be wary of the opponent’s ranged attacks.

Since its intelligence wasn’t high, it likely couldn’t use complex high-level magic or difficult-to-apply advanced skills.

Victory was certainly possible.

…Or so I thought.

That was before its arms multiplied to four, its legs to eight, and twelve pairs of wings sprouted from its back.

Dragons are fundamentally curious, aggressive, and proud creatures… but ultimately, they are still living beings.

In the face of survival instinct, pride and everything else meant nothing.

<Superior Magic: Explosive> <Blink>

The instant I sensed the creature attempting to transform into something even more dangerous, I rocked the building’s core with explosion

magic, then immediately fled upwards using <Blink>.

With a tremendous roar, the research facility collapsed, and that monster—the Chimera—was buried under the concrete debris, never to

emerge again.

Chimera.

A general term for monsters combined from multiple creatures, and a long-standing mystery in the world’s number one user game,

‘Fantasia’.

One could find out how to create it by defeating a mage NPC, specifically a Lich NPC who is a boss of a top-tier dungeon and an adversary,

activating a hidden magic circle in his room, and entering the secret laboratory behind the wall.

However, the method was so cruel, and realistically, it was impossible to gather all the necessary materials like enriched uranium from

modern technology within a fantasy world, so ‘how to make a Chimera’ remained merely a long-standing mystery.

‘No, it’s not even a mystery anymore. Fantasia is essentially inaccessible, practically shut down, so is it a MacGuffin now?’

The Chimera was a fairly famous enigma.

Due to censorship, the Korean translation wasn’t fully readable, but the Lich NPC’s experiment logs, available in the English version—the

uncensored original—were notoriously gory.

People always love sensational mysteries.

Because they love pouring attention into them.

That’s why secondary creations and horror stories related to the Chimera circulated.

“…To think they actually created that Chimera.”

Standing on the debris of the intentionally collapsed research lab, I mentally pictured the creature.

There was definitely a blood-soaked golden mane on its nape.

Although it was completely burned away without a trace due to the direct hit from the high-powered Dragon Word Magic, it was clearly a

lion’s mane.

That meant the hide where the mane grew was also likely a lion’s.

Of course, an ordinary lion’s mane and hide couldn’t possibly maintain their form after being hit by <Astrape>, plus—the distorted limbs

resembling human ones.

And a body capable of bipedal locomotion.

Anyone could see this wasn’t within the range of transformation for a normal lion.

Thus, by comparing its physical characteristics to the traits of various races and job classes, I could roughly deduce which parts from what

kind of users were used and attached.

It could use magic, albeit simply, and the purity of the mana it used was high.

So, a heart with a drawn mana circle must have been included.

Additionally, it possessed demonic eyes capable of seeing clearly in the dark as if it were daytime and penetrating stealth.

I could be sure of this because I confirmed the purple glow in its eyes.

Furthermore, its legs were those of a Centaur or perhaps a footed beastkin.

The sound of horse hooves often occurred when it ran, and crucially, the fur on its legs was brown, distinctly different from its upper body.

Finally, the wings that sprouted from its back.

They weren’t those of Demonkin or Dragonkin.

Since they had feathers, they were probably Avian.

It was an experimental subject created by sacrificing at least five quasi-ranker level users.

Perhaps it was close to completion, as its internal organs were connected well enough to function normally.

Of course, its appearance was unbearable to look at, but I had long given up the thought that the researchers here would be kind enough to

care about the experimental subject’s appearance.

Presumably, the humans in this secret underground laboratory, not content with studying the ecology of different species, had delved into

forbidden arts considered taboo even in ‘Fantasia’.

‘…When I was about to be sold on the black market, the kidnappers mentioned that human experiments on different species users were

actively being conducted in various countries.’

I thought human experiments merely involved exploring the bodies of some species usable for medicine or drugs, or at worst, removing

internal organs to analyze their components.

I never imagined experiments involving cutting and stitching limbs of people who were, until recently, fellow humans, connecting organs,

and drawing blood while they were still alive.

However, reality is always stranger than fiction, and humanity ultimately created a monster capable of easily slaughtering not only ordinary

users but thousands of humans.

‘Moreover, there’s no way creatures like this only exist in Korea. There’s a high possibility that even stronger ones exist…’

The reason these Chimeras are strong is simple.

By synthesizing parts primarily used by specific job classes—like the Chimera just now, combining a tanker’s durable hide, a swordsman’s

arm muscles, a mage’s heart, and a fighter’s legs—one can literally create a being with no weaknesses, excelling in all aspects without

demerits.

The only drawbacks were the enormous cost of creating just one and the fact that acquiring strong test subjects as materials was like plucking

stars from the sky.

However, developed countries would likely have little concern for research costs and would surely have established routes to acquire suitable

test subjects.

Therefore, the individuals involved in this experiment and their sponsors—the higher-ups in the nation—likely calculated that creating

monsters far stronger and easier to control was more profitable than catering to volatile users, kneeling before them, and asking them to

resolve international conflicts and problems.

Naturally, there was no chance that foreigners wouldn’t have had the same thought.

‘If all those countries supposedly conducting human experiments are aiming to create such Chimeras… it wouldn’t be strange if hundreds

more, even stronger Chimeras exist.’

From the perspective of the state and society, users were nothing but undesirable elements, utterly unhelpful.

They were treated civilly only because they were once fellow humans and possessed great individual power.

Just looking at how we were treated before regaining our strength easily reveals how the state views users.

If they could make such individuals controllable at will… there would probably be many who would secretly put it into practice.

Most users sever ties with those around them after their bodies change, making their human connections extremely weak, so even if they

disappear, they likely wouldn’t even be reported missing.