Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

SKREEEE!

The instant the monster rat shrieked.

My hand seized its skull.

CRACK!

With a sound like a watermelon splitting, its head burst apart.

Vile fluids splattered in every direction, but the golden aura cloaking my body deflected them.

'Light.'

Light as a feather.

It wasn't simply a matter of increased strength.

My senses had sharpened.

My muscles reacted faster than thought.

'All stats at 100.'

The average stats for a typical hunter or awakened at Level 1 hovered around 10.

All stats at 100 was a realm you couldn't reach until at least Level 10.

'Starting out as if I'm Level 10.'

Not a bad start.

No — to be honest.

It was overwhelming.

'Which means Rag's growth potential is insane.'

I smirked, tossed the burst rat's corpse aside, and headed outside.

"AAAAAH!"

"R-run!"

"Monsters! The rats are eating people!"

Hell on earth.

Outside was devastating.

Dozens — hundreds — of monster rats were pouring out through the cracked asphalt.

They bit into anyone they could reach and scaled the buildings.

Watching that pandemonium, I analyzed the situation coldly.

'We always had it wrong.'

In the past, humanity assumed the monsters appeared and then the buildings collapsed and the ground split.

But that was wrong.

The order was reversed.

'Disaster comes first.'

The disaster called an earthquake had occurred, tearing open dimensional rifts.

The monsters had merely crawled out through those rifts.

In other words.

'Eliminate the disaster, and the monsters vanish on their own.'

Solve the root cause, and the effects follow.

We hadn't grasped that simple truth until the very moment of our extinction.

We'd been too busy scrambling to kill the monsters right in front of us.

But this time was different.

I had the answer.

BANG!

I kicked off the ground.

The asphalt cratered as my body shot forward like a cannonball.

"Squeak?"

A rat blocking my path let out a stupid noise.

I drove my fist forward.

THWACK!

Its entire upper body was torn away and crashed into the rats trailing behind it.

Anything in my way gets destroyed.

I swung my fists indiscriminately.

I cleaved necks with the edge of my hand, and a single kick crushed three or four at once.

"P-please save us!"

A mother and daughter cornered against a wall screamed.

Five monster rats had them surrounded.

I didn't stop running.

I snatched up a fallen stone and hurled it.

SWOOSH!

The projectile, boosted by raw muscle, was as fast as a bullet.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Three rats had holes punched through their skulls in an instant.

The remaining two whipped their heads around in alarm.

My fists were already buried in their chests.

CRUNCH!

"......Huh?"

Leaving the stunned onlookers staring up at me, I ran on.

I didn't need gratitude for saving them.

What mattered now was finding the 'source.'

That was when it happened.

HUMMM.

My right palm tingled.

The golden rune letters emitted a faint glow.

Like a compass.

My hand was pointing in a single direction all on its own.

'There.'

The heart of downtown Seoul.

The largest sinkhole, gaping wide.

Black smoke billowing from within — that was the source of the earthquake and the core of this disaster.

I changed direction.

But there was a problem.

SKREEEEE!

CHITTER! CHIT-CHITTER!

Too many.

The closer I got to the sinkhole, the more the rats multiplied exponentially.

It wasn't just the swarm of rats blanketing the ground, either.

BZZZZZZZ!

An unpleasant wingbeat droned from the sky.

I looked up to find human-sized giant dragonflies swarming in clusters.

'Demon flies.'

The aerial monster that killed the most awakened in the early days.

An encirclement closing in from both the ground and the air.

Trying to brute-force my way through would eat too much time.

'Annoying pests.'

Descent time was limited.

I couldn't afford to waste it on mere fodder.

Just as I was about to clench my fist.

DING!

A system message appeared before my eyes.

[Conditions met to use the disaster, 'Typhoon of Annihilation.']

[Manifestation possible in current body.]

[Use it?]

Conditions met, huh.

Probably because of the sheer number of enemies and the environment being ripe for 'annihilation.'

I nodded without hesitation.

FWOOM!

A small whirlwind formed above my left palm.

'The right hand eats, the left hand spits out?'

Input and output.

The structure itself made sense.

This must be the fundamental principle behind the class 'He Who Devours Disasters.'

What had started as a ping-pong ball of wind ballooned to the size of a basketball in an instant.

The compressed air screamed.

WHEEEEEEE!

The surrounding rats must have felt instinctive terror — they stumbled backward.

But it was too late.

I hurled that 'disaster' toward where the monsters were densest.

"Sweep them all away."

WHOMP!

The moment the wind left my hand and touched the ground.

GWOOOOOOOOOH!

An explosive roar twisted the atmosphere.

The very same colossal typhoon I'd witnessed in Asgard.

It descended upon the heart of Seoul.

SKREEK!

SKREEEEEE!

They couldn't even scream properly.

The rat swarm on the ground was swept upward like dead leaves.

The dragonflies in the sky had their wings shredded and were sucked into the eye of the typhoon.

Building debris, cars, and thousands of monsters were churned together like a giant blender.

Overwhelming destructive power.

Annihilation in its purest form.

"Clean."

I dusted off my palms.

Cleanup was done.

I equipped the 'Wings of the Spirit' and launched myself down into the sinkhole.

***

There was no end in sight.

The depth of the sinkhole defied imagination.

Without the 'Wings of the Spirit,' I wouldn't have dared attempt the descent.

SWOOOOSH.

I sliced through the air as I descended for a long time.

Pitch-black darkness surrounded me.

But that was no issue.

HUMMM.

The golden light radiating from my right palm served as a natural torch.

'Almost there.'

How far had I come?

Something solid met the tips of my feet.

The space looked less like a natural cavern and more like it had been artificially carved.

I folded my wings and followed where the golden light pointed.

At its end.

"......A person?"

Something I hadn't expected.

Not a monster egg, not a naturally occurring mana stone.

An ordinary human man sat cross-legged atop a boulder.

He must have sensed my presence — his eyes snapped open.

"What are you?"

He was clearly rattled.

"How did you get all the way down here? The entrance should've been blocked off by rats."

"There was a path, so I followed it."

"......Impossible. Fighting through that many to get down here is."

The man narrowed his brow and swept his gaze over my body.

Then he looked up at the ceiling and muttered.

"Wait. This energy I'm sensing from above...... a typhoon?"

His eyes returned to me.

Something in his gaze had changed.

"Don't tell me — are you an 'avatar'?"

"......"

"That's strange. Our territories shouldn't overlap. Did the operators botch the design?"

Avatar.

Territory.

Operators.

The words he let slip clicked together in my mind like puzzle pieces.

Territories existed within disasters too.

And the agents causing those disasters weren't monsters — they wore the shape of 'humans.'

Above all.

'That face looks familiar.'

That face.

I knew him.

"Kim Yuhwan?"

The man flinched at my question.

"What? How do you know my screen name?"

Now I was certain.

Kim Yuhwan the Iron.

A hero who'd appeared like a comet in Korea's past.

He'd used his impervious body as a weapon to save countless people and was revered for it.

And yet, that very hero now sat before me as the source of this earthquake.

'......So that's how it was.'

A chilling hypothesis crossed my mind.

The heroes who'd grown suspiciously fast and impossibly strong.

What their true identity had been.

'Collaborators of the gods?'

No — 'collaborators' didn't sit right.

He'd asked if I was an avatar.

Could it be.

'The gods' game?'

Kim Yuhwan before me might be a 'character' — an 'avatar' — the gods had generated on Earth.

Just as I'd created the character 'Rag' in Asgard.

The only difference.

......They triggered disasters, summoned monsters, and massacred people to level up.

Then, when the time was right, they'd swoop in, pretend to slay the monsters, and play 'hero.'

"Ha."

A hollow laugh escaped me.

We hadn't known, and we'd worshipped them as saviors.

We'd bowed in gratitude to the very bastards who gave us the disease and the cure!

"Fascinating."

Killing intent surged.

Kim Yuhwan tilted his head, perplexed.

"What's so fascinating? More importantly, which faction are you with? What kind of god are you?"

"None of your business."

No point in talking further.

I'd find out everything I needed once I killed him.

I kicked off the ground.

BOOM!

The bedrock caved in as my body rocketed forward.

Kim Yuhwan's eyes went wide.

"You're insane!"

RRRRRUMBLE!

He slammed his hand down and the earth convulsed.

Massive boulders surged upward, blocking my path.

The power to generate earthquakes.

But it was useless.

WHOOSH!

The 'Wings of the Spirit' unfurled.

I used the erupting boulders as stepping stones, soaring through the air and closing the distance to his face.

"W-what the?!"

Kim Yuhwan crossed his arms in a panic.

His skin turned the color of black steel.

'Steel Transmutation.'

The very ability that had made him a hero in his previous life.

An absolute defense that nullified physical blows.

But.

'That's by human standards.'

My Strength was 100.

I'd been off the charts from the start.

KABAAAAM!

My fist drove into his crossed arms.

"GRAAAAAH!"

With the sound of steel buckling, Kim Yuhwan was sent flying backward.

The boulder behind him shattered, and he was buried in a pit of dust and rubble.

"Cough! Hack!"

Kim Yuhwan spat blood and dragged himself upright.

Both arms were crushed, dangling uselessly.

His eyes bulged in disbelief.

"Th-that's...... impossible."

"......"

"How did you level up that much already? The tutorial should've just started!"

His voice was a cocktail of terror and shock.

"Starting stats can't be this high! Are you a high-ranking god or something?"

THUD. THUD.

Instead of answering, I walked toward him.

Kim Yuhwan backpedaled, face drained of color.

"S-stay back! Why are you doing this between fellow gods?! This is a violation of the pact!"

So they'd even set up rules among themselves. How quaint.

Now I was certain.

These bastards were gods of Asgard.

Specifically.

'Gods of the tower.'

Now I understood.

They'd deceived humanity from the very start to the very end.

"Let go! Even if you kill me, all that disappears is one avatar!"

Kim Yuhwan thrashed and screamed.

His eyes were flooded with terror, but his voice still clung to a shred of confidence.

"My main body is in Asgard! Even if you kill me here, I just create a new one!"

He snarled, veins bulging.

"This is a blatant territory violation! I'm bringing this to the council. You broke the pact. You know damn well what the penalty is!"

Pact. Council. Penalty.

What a laughable string of words.

I smirked and placed my hand on his chest.

"Go ahead."

"......What?"

"Try it, if you can."

HUMMM!

The golden rune etched into my right palm vibrated wildly.

The instinct of a predator before its prey.

The golden light bored into his heart.

"GRAAAAAH! Wh-what is this?!"

Kim Yuhwan's body convulsed.

His face turned white as a sheet.

Then, desperately, he screamed.

"Logout! Logout!"

Kim Yuhwan shrieked at the empty air.

He rattled off system commands in rapid succession.

"Force quit! Disconnect! Now!"

But.

"......It's not working? Why?"

His pupils quaked as if struck by an earthquake.

That couldn't be right.

The system was absolute.

An absolute law that even gods couldn't defy.

And yet his logout was blocked by the mere interference of another player?

Only then did Kim Yuhwan realize the true nature of the golden light drilling into his chest.

"N-no way......"

It wasn't just the avatar's mana.

The power of his main body, far away in Asgard.

His very 'divinity' — the foundation of his existence — was being drained wholesale.

"H-how are you absorbing my divinity?!"

This shouldn't be possible.

A power that kills gods!

"What the hell are you?! Stop!!"

Kim Yuhwan seized my arm and struggled with everything he had to pry it off.

But the moment his steel-coated fingers made contact, they crumbled to dust.

"AAAAAARGH!"

His scream didn't last long.

SWAAAAAAA.

Starting from his legs, then his torso, and finally his head.

Kim Yuhwan's body disintegrated into golden particles and was sucked into my right hand.

"Save m——"

With that final, strangled plea.

POP!

His existence was erased from the world entirely.

At the same time.

RRRUMBLE...... STOP.

The ceaseless trembling of the earth went still.

The ominous energy that had filled the sinkhole vanished as if washed clean.

DING!

A message appeared in the air.

[You have devoured the disaster, 'Lesser Earthquake God Kartal.']

[Divinity absorbed.]

[You can permanently use the Authority, 'Lesser Earthquake.']

[Earthquake intensity scales with the user's mana stat.]

[Episode 1, 'Invasion,' has concluded.]

[Catastrophic contribution.]

[Predicted survival rate exceeded by an astronomical margin.]

[Episode 1, 'Invasion,' rank: 1st place.]

[Register your name in the Hall of Fame.]

[Roll the die (1-15) to determine the scale of your reward.]

[15! The lucky die lands on the maximum!]

[Reward (1): Dragon Egg]

[Reward (2): 15 Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule]

[Your level has risen!]