Chapter 70 : Cockroach Monster (2)

“Someone said, and it turns out that you were the one who helped promote Carmilla-nim on TV!”

“Ha ha. Yes… we’ve been friends since we were young, so it just ended up like this.”

“You’ve managed to have a girlfriend who is a next-gen S-class hero, and you even applied to a hero-related department to support her in any way you could… you’re amazing, Janghoon.”

I never imagined I’d use Carmilla like this.

Well, it wasn’t a lie.

She would definitely understand this much.

Let’s rewind a bit, and I was with this red-haired female soldier.

Sergeant Song Hana, heading to C city with me.

But she, saying she couldn’t take a civilian like me—a weak man—into the field, seemed to just want to thank me for the thought.

As I was wondering what to do, the promotional activity I had done with Carmilla came to mind.

“By the way, I never imagined that a man who isn’t even a hero would be Carmilla-nim’s ‘sidekick.’”

“Ha, haha! Yes, I never imagined this either.”

Currently, I was pretending to be Carmilla’s sidekick.

It wasn’t just a simple lie since there were multiple scenes of us together aired on TV, spreading across the entire Hero City.

Thankfully, Sergeant Song Hana seemed to believe what I said without hesitation.

Thanks to that, the appearance of the monster meant we were practically in a ‘state of emergency.’

In other words, I was following her to C city while she borrowed a motorcycle under military authority.

“Once we get to C city, you need to stay behind me until we meet Carmilla-nim. Got it? Janghoon-ssi.”

“Ah, yes. Of course…”

“Even though you’re her sidekick, Carmilla-nim didn’t choose you because of your ‘combat power,’ did she? I’m sure you have that much sense.”

So, even in C city, I had to stay with her.

This advice from Sergeant Song Hana came right before we reached the barrier of C city.

Well, my plan was to quietly disappear and transform into a monster if the opportunity arose, but…

“Stay close, okay?”

With a warm hand placed gently on my arm as I held onto her waist behind the motorcycle, she asked again.

“Ah, yes…”

As soon as we arrived in C city, I tried to figure out a way to part ways, but…

It seemed like it was going to be very difficult.

Exactly 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 42 seconds had passed since the cockroach monster appeared.

During that time, 80% of C city’s population had been evacuated to a giant dome-shaped shelter, thanks to the quick response from the Hero Association.

But that was all.

“Hmm~. Since earlier, all I’ve seen are soldiers doing their numbers, and heroes below B rank are completely ineffective.”

The number of destroyed tanks.

36.

The number of soldiers lost.

1,827.

The number of failed heroes.

385.

In contrast, the cockroach monster had taken 0% damage from all kinds of firearms and abilities.

It was a disastrous result, almost impossible to believe considering the number of casualties.

“At this point, an S-class hero should be showing up soon… Is Yoon Ha still not here?”

The cockroach monster, calmly walking over the road scattered with unconscious soldiers and broken weapon parts, seemed to enjoy its victory.

However, behind it, a hero who had been secretly tailing it while pretending to be a dead body was watching.

The third-highest hero ranking in this city, after Carmilla and Blanche.

A-class, rank 44.

‘Kangpung’s Miori,’ who had been using her ninja transformation technique to continuously send radio communications to the Hero Association.

“Heh heh. This is Kangpung’s Miori, currently, the enemy is moving from DF-24 to DF-25.”

“Ah, yes! Message received, Miori-nim. Please be careful and track the movements of the cockroach monster without being discovered.”

“…But, since I haven’t participated in the battle, the number of casualties keeps rising.”

“It can’t be helped! If it weren’t for you, Miori-nim, the monster’s movements would have already crossed paths with the citizens multiple times! And the ones lying there now are all people who went out prepared to face that danger!”

!!

Miori, highly regarded for her abilities in espionage, assassination, and bodyguarding, had become an A-class hero.

She could’ve easily helped, but she had to avoid being discovered.

The faces of the soldiers who had been left alone still haunted her.

They had only realized they were dying when they tried to reach out with their hands, but she couldn’t help them.

Because even a short moment like that could have alerted the monster.

So Miori had to ignore dying lives, even though it weighed heavily on her heart.

However, thanks to that, more than 80% of the citizens had managed to evacuate safely.

‘Just a little longer… Just a little longer!’

Only 20% left.

Once all the citizens of C city are inside the shelters, I’ll take advantage of their guard being down and strike.

With that thought, Miori quietly followed the cockroach monster, watching it turn a corner toward an intersection…

“What are you doing?”

“?!”

“Hooh?”

“Shadow Slash!”

Front, back, left, right.

And even the head!

From five directions, excluding the ground, the kunoichi drew their swords simultaneously, slashing past the monster’s body.

A truly clean strike cutting from all sides—above, below, left, and right.

A few seconds later, the four clones vanished after completing their task.

Left alone, the original knelt on one knee.

Her kimono fluttered like a cape, and she had vibrant, cherry blossom-like hair.

“How about that! This is the true power of humanity!”

Mimori shouted with all her might, feeling the presence of something collapsing with a thud behind her.

However, her expression was more stained with sorrow than joy.

“Damn it… If this thing was such a weakling, I should’ve just taken it down instead of tailing it!”

If the enemy was this easy to defeat, she should have cut off its head earlier to reduce the number of casualties.

But she hesitated, simply because it was classified as a semi-first-class threat.

As a result, there were now three extra zeros attached to the number of victims.

“This is Miori. Do you copy, Hero Association?”

Static— “Ah, Lady Miori! It seemed like the connection was briefly lost. Did something happen?!”

“It’s about the cockroach monster. I took care of it.”

“W-What did you say?!”

“I heard that twelve years ago, the S-rank hero Yoon Ha-eun took it down, but I never imagined it was this weak. Damn it… We lost too many people to something this pathetic!”

“…What in the world…?”

Hearing the response from the re-established transmission, Miori clenched her teeth and reported the current situation.

Even the Hero Association had not anticipated this outcome, and the shaken response made her click her tongue again.

“With my ninja art, Shadow Slash, I severed all its vital points—the carotid artery, heart, lungs, internal organs, and femoral artery.”

“!!? D-Did you just say you defeated the cockroach monster?!”

“Yeah. No matter how much of a monster it is, it’s still a living creature. If it takes simultaneous hits to five vital areas, it can’t possibly get back up.”

“My god… Lady Miori! Get out of there immediately!”

“…What?”

“It’s not dead! That thing is just savoring the brink of death!”

“What are you talking about?”

Even if the five slashed areas weren’t critical…

A being should die if its arteries or heart are pierced.

But the urgent voice coming through the radio suggested otherwise—as if such a creature existed.

At the same time, just in case, Miori turned around…

“Mmm~. Hmm~. Good… This is very good…!”

“…You’ve got to be kidding me…”

The cockroach monster, standing around five meters tall with a muscular physique, twisted its body unnaturally.

Its half-crushed face was flushed with excitement.

Having experienced ‘death’ multiple times, it was now savoring it.

The black blood that had been flowing from its body began to heal itself, restoring it to its original state.

Perhaps it was because of the shock of witnessing this impossible recovery…

She even dropped the sword she had been gripping tightly.

“When humans encounter cockroaches, the moment they feel the most fear… is when they witness a cockroach’s survivability.”

“…!”

“Even if its head is cut off, a cockroach can survive for ten days. Born from such a fear, I cannot be defeated by something as trivial as this .”