Thud!
A shockwave.
Countless scholars have pondered this.
How could a single shockwave produce such an incomprehensible multitude of miraculous powers?
So claim it’s a pure manifestation of energy similar to nuclear fusion. Others say it’s a reaction between unknown chemical elents humanity hasn’t discovered. Still others cautiously propose it’s the ergence of a third type of energy—sothing psychic—that an immature species like us cannot yet comprehend.
None of them gave a satisfying answer. And so, as humanity slowly—or rapidly—collapsed, we ca to accept the phenonon known as the shockwave for what it was.
Compared to the efforts of academics, the expression is crude—insulting, even—but still, the term people settled on was simply: “just because.”
Just because they’re monsters.
That’s how people processed it. And that’s how they rationalized it.
I’m no different.
I was curious about the shockwave phenonon too, but I knew curiosity wouldn’t solve anything. So I treated it like the training manuals did: just another combat pattern.
But now, sprinting headlong toward this creature in a full-force collision, sothing hits —an inspiration.
Call it a dull flicker, nothing more.
What if the shockwave is not a power generated internally, but a kind of signal? Like a cellphone ping?
Not a self-made force, but a trigger to draw power from elsewhere.
And the one supplying that power—likely the world beyond the Rift.
Because these monsters are more like «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» machines—built directly by the static nothingness of the other side.
Most of Earth is already consud by Erosion, yet we’ve never seen monsters cannibalize or consu natural matter to replenish energy.
Sa with zombies.
People care less about them, but even though they’re forrly human, zombies can go years without eating and still look the sa.
So do eat flesh, sure, but even in places where they can’t, they still retain their human forms for years.
Even pre-obese humans who beca zombies keep their overweight appearance. It’s proof enough.
They draw energy from a completely different source.
And with that energy, they perform what we call miracles—so-called Authorities.
Like the rebound field that just activated behind .
Or—
Chiiiiii—
That invisible force now holding the flaming harpoon midair, suspending it before impact.
“......”
I stopped my long march forward, calmly staring at the harpoon rocket spinning in place, caught in midair.
The creature still looked down at , head lowered.
Its shiny, grayish-white eyes unmistakably reflected —Park Gyu.
“Yeah.”
A sort of weariness ca over .
Not like the mind-numbing fatigue I’ve felt on countless battlefields, but more like a dull resignation—the fatigue at the edge of understanding.
“Kyu! It’s doing the sa move as last ti!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I shrugged off the Harpoonizer’s launcher.
There was nothing cool or elegant in it—no pose I’d learned from Jang Ki-young, no attempt at flair.
I just tossed it away.
Thunk—
Kim Da-ram shouted from behind.
“Sunbae! Behind us—it’s the new types! A whole bunch! Executioner-types! That thing summoned them!”
“Da-ram. Just give them one intimidation shot.”
Bang!
“They’re coming!”
“Dodge on your own.”
I calmly drew my teacher’s weapon again—and mine.
Looking up at the monster, I thought about the question I’d already prepared. But one more surfaced.
As I stared at the reflected in that glossy, grayish-white eye, I asked evenly:
“...Is it fun?”
The phone strapped to my left chest strap started to warm slightly.
Our monster friend—the Pink Prince—might’ve typed sothing in chat.
I wanted to check. But I’ve always been a model student.
The harpoon rocket, still spinning helplessly in the air, finally lost thrust and dropped to the ground.
I looked at the creature again and said,
“I’m having fun.”
I charged.
Third battle lesson from China:
At point-blank range, it can’t use its Authority.
Which ans, aside from physical movent, it’s defenseless.
There were no structures around this ti to climb like before.
A human less than two ters tall has no business trying to reach the head of a monster tens of ters high with a lee weapon—but let’s do this my way.
My vision was filled with gray.
I slipped under its torso.
Eight blade-like legs ca into view.
“......”
The answer is simple:
Beat it.
The flesh of a monster is like that of a dead tree, long since withered.
It’s a fitting comparison.
So species have similar exoskeletons, but this elite monster doesn’t.
I swung my dual axe with all my strength.
Crack!
A deep cut split through its leg.
Like chopping into a massive tree trunk—it wasn’t much, but it worked.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It pounded out shockwaves like a hamr on a drum, retreating with shocking agility despite its massive size, bringing back into its line of sight.
“Kyu!”
“Sunbae!”
“Professor!”
I raised a hand to them with my palm open.
It ant: Don’t interfere.
This was my fight.
I charged again.
I saw the sa leg I’d struck before.
Swung hard.
Whooom—
The dual axe wasn’t my main weapon, but I’d split more firewood in the bunker than I could count.
Thousands of logs, probably.
Crack!
I deepened the gash.
Crack!
No hesitation. No fear.
It tried to stomp in a panic—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
But it was just a bull trying to crush a rat.
Except it wasn’t a bull, and I wasn’t a rat.
I dodged all its thunderous stomps.
Crack!
Like a lumberjack, I struck the leg again.
Creeeak—
A fracture ran through the limb.
And I saw a secret:
Its legs were hollow inside.
Already fragile, now empty?
No wonder it was twitching in alarm.
When I dashed forward to strike again, it scrambled backward, eight legs flailing.
It stared at again.
And I felt sothing.
A smile.
It couldn’t help it.
Because now—it hated .
Sa as I hated it.
I slowly tilted my axe toward it.
And waited.
Thud!
A shockwave.
That sa invisible, intangible force seized .
I tried to move.
“......”
Couldn’t budge.
Totally bound.
Just like before.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It approached.
Lifting the leg I’d maid like an injured man, advancing on just seven limbs.
It was going to crush .
“Kyu!”
“Sunbae!”
Na Hye-in’s words drifted through my mind, like a dream:
“It’s not easy to grab living things with telekinesis. How do I put it... living beings—especially ones with souls, or animals like humans that think and emit strong brainwaves—they interfere. That’s why lifting a living thing with telekinesis is harder than it sounds.”
If she was right, then this thing was using a lot of power just to hold .
And I, Park Gyu, am no ordinary human.
“...Let’s go.”
I said it calmly, staring the creature down.
Then pressed the button my fingers had already been resting on.
Chiiii—
At the base of my axe, a steel skirt flared out like an inverted umbrella.
Titanium alloy, built by Seven and the rest of Korea’s proud engineers.
Nobody—not even they—guessed what it was for.
But today, I’ll show them.
I pressed the second button.
No visible reaction.
But I knew it was mixing the solid fuel inside the two dual boosters—each heavier than the axe itself.
Beep—
A blue light lit up. I pressed the third button.
Thud!
It took another step.
One more, and it could crush .
Didn’t matter.
Chiiii—
Ignition.
The rocket-axe lit up.
At first, a flicker.
Then—
FOOOOOOM—
Despite the titanium skirt, the flas threatened to incinerate with raw air alone.
That searing heat focused into one purpose:
Forward propulsion.
My vision shook violently.
My tech-driven boosters fought against the monster’s psychic force.
I soared.
In an instant, I was ten ters off the ground.
I was lucky.
Had I stayed lower, the backflowing flas would’ve seared faster than the snow-covered ground below.
Even with heat-resistant pants, it was unbearable.
“Kyu!”
Gong Gyeong-min’s voice called from behind.
I waited.
Not their turn yet.
Not because of doctrine or logic.
Just a feeling.
The sa feeling that had let burn back countless monsters with a fire called hatred.
It told —not yet.
Chiiiii—
The handle began to glow red.
Even through my heat-resistant gloves, the heat reached my skin.
This wasn’t just a feeling now.
It was real.
My hands were burning.
Still, I would not let go.
I will win.
I endured the agony and waited.
Chiiiii!
Pain flared through my legs.
Even with protective gear, rocket fire burns in the thousands of degrees.
I’d mounted two boosters.
Chinese army-grade standard micro-missile thrusters.
If my lower body and everything else got roasted, I had no complaints.
Everyone said it was insane.
So did I.
Chiiiii!
Smoke now rose from my hands.
“Sunbae!”
“Professor!”
My teammates shouted again.
I answered:
“Stand by!”
But what can I say?
I was already insane.
“Wait!”
Not yet.
Just a little more.
Almost.
Yes.
I saw it.
Its eyes flashed.
Thud!
Another shockwave.
“Now!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Boom!
Two things happened simultaneously.
First: I was thrown backward.
But that force was canceled by the rebound field forming behind .
It had tried to shove away using telekinesis, but the field blocked its output.
Which ant—
It had no energy left.
For a mont, the infinite being was no longer infinite.
That ant one thing.
Whooosh—
The landscape shifted too fast to process.
After a flash of motion—
WHAM!
I slamd into its torso.
Of course, I held onto the burning axe—blade first.
The impact crushed part of its body.
“...Kh!”
It was madness.
The collision nearly knocked unconscious.
I twisted the valve—finally, the thrusters sputtered and died.
I assessed.
Couldn’t breathe.
Probably a broken rib stabbed into my lung.
I forced a breath out.
“Guh!”
Blood bubbled up from my throat.
Good sign.
I could still breathe.
Of course, the situation wasn’t great.
Unbearable pain threatened to snuff out my consciousness.
But both arms were fine.
Legs, too.
I stood up straight.
Ripped the axe from the grayish flesh.
Stared down the monster.
“......”
Even now, the axe still roasted my palms.
I raised it high.
The monster twitched one small limb in resistance.
I struck.
Crack!
The axe chopped off the limb at the joint.
Still gripping it, I climbed upward.
Finally, I made it atop its head.
Now it was beneath .
I peeled my scorched hands from the axe and drew my second—my twin weapon.
Shing—
The two blades flashed at eye level with the monster.
Its glossy eyes reflected only the twin axes now.
“......”
Crack!
I drove both axes into its head.
No rcy. No regret.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Again and again.
This is a question.
A question humanity asks the monsters:
Can you die?
If there's no answer, I’ll keep striking.
Crack!
Until it does.
Its massive form trembled.
The tremor shook like a magnitude-6 quake, but I didn’t stop.
From its shattered skull, sothing erged.
A grayish-white sphere.
Deep and profound—not a material, but an energy cluster.
I didn’t know what it was.
But I did the only thing I could.
Raised both axes—
And smashed the incomprehensible orb.
The mont the blades struck—
The world changed.
And a single word filled my mind:
[Answer]
Reviews
All reviews (0)