This world messed up big time. About 50 years ago, monsters appeared. They came from the ground, the air, and the ocean. Blah. They made a sudden attack on the human race and we were almost wiped out. The weapons we had developed over thousands of years were useless. These guys had crazy tough skin and it took dozens of bullets to bring one down. We had about a couple hundred of those just in our country alone.
We shot our guns, mobilized tanks, and shot out missiles too. But these monsters learned how to protect themselves. They would dig themselves underground to evade our weapons and were smart enough to only come out at night to continue their attacks.
We were barely able to keep the city from falling to complete disaster by mobilizing a bunch of soldiers but it didnât end there. As time passed on, a huge crater appeared within the city. The black hole got bigger and bigger until one day a stream of monsters started spilling out of it. We tried everything. Shot into it, threw grenades into itâŚbut it didnât stop them.
North Korea activated a nuclear bomb. Of course, right? That incident didnât help anyone but caused their immediate collapse. They got absorbed by China. What used to be North Korea became an autonomous region of China.
Later there was an incident where a scout actually went into the black hole and came back outâŚalive. He had personally witnessed the monsters that were teaming within that hole and somehow lived through it. Nothing short of a miracle, I say.
Using his testimony and realizing that more monsters lived in that hole, a whole army was sent in to take care of them all. The results were disastrous. The monsters in the hole turned out to be way more powerful than the ones that were running around outside. And on top of that, inside the cramped space of the dungeon, the army was not able to fully use strategies or anything else that would have helped.
Humanity had no choice but to create a defensive line around the hole and resort to just trying to fight the weaker monsters spilling from out of it. And then..a man appeared.
Lee Wheeseung.
This man, equipped with only a sword, had gone inside the dungeon and wiped out the monsters there. He had killed monsters, whose hides could not be penetrated by even bullets, with just one blade. Not only did this catch the attention of the country, but it was spread far and wide across the world.
The secret to his success was in none other than the skillbook that the monsters had dropped. These guys rarely die but when they do, they drop their skillbook. Luckily, Lee Wheeseung had attained one of these â the âPedroâ skillbook. He learned its contents. Being the first of mankind to be able to clear a dungeon, he basically monopolized the fortune found in the dungeons.
From the fortune he acquired as he cleared dungeon after dungeon, he began to gain fame as well across all of Korea. He became the best hunter as well as the biggest celebrity. Recruitments for commercials came wave after wave, he even made some music here and there, and appeared in several movies too. At one ridiculous point, he was the number 1 presidential candidate. But hating politics, he never ran. If he did run, he would have been made President. No doubt about that. Ultimately he ended up marrying the leader of Koreanâs most popular girl group and lived happily ever after.
If you really think about it though, you canât really say that it was all his luck. Honestly, if the Pedro skillbook was picked up by anyone else, all of that luck would have belonged to someone else. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time and attained everything from it.
âHmmâŚ?â
I opened my eyes to see that the bus had passed Shinchon and was headed toward Yeonshin. That woke me the hell up. I quickly got up and rushed to get off. The bus heading back where I came from hadnât arrived yet. Looking at the bus schedule, it would be another 20 minutes until it would come.
I looked around as I stood at the bus stop. There was a female student with earphones on listening to music. And there was a middle aged looking salaryman. That was it.
Several busses passed by and just as I was about to yawn from the wait, the 1500 bus Iâd been waiting for finally arrived.
Something was weird. The bus was jiggling around like it was dancing and didnât seem like it would stop.
âShit.â
There was blood all over the inside of the bus. A monster was going to town in there. The driver looked as if he was already dead. The bus was speeding â the driver probably died with his foot still on the pedal.
Crash!
The rumbling bus crashed into a store nearby. It overturned from the impact and the monster peeked out of the wide open door.
I screamed bloody murder at the top of my lungs.
âRun!â
The middleaged man started to run with horror on his face, but the girl was just standing there reading her damn book. I think I remember seeing this exact scene in a movie one time. A monster would appear but the girl extra, reading a book with earphones in her damn head, gets eaten.
Shit shit shit
I grabbed her hand and started running.
âWhat, what are you doing?!â
âThereâs no time to explain! If you need to know, just look behind us!â
âHee eek?â
The girl collapsed to the ground. Looks like she lost the strength from her legs. What could I do? I just scooped her up. Remember I told you about those squats? Came in handy, didnât it? I practice 3 sets of squats. Carrying a girl who looked to be barely 100 pounds was nothing to me.
The problem now was, would I be able to outrun that monster.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
I turned to look at the monster. Probably 3 meters tall. Had some thick skin with a muscular body. Kind of had a humanoid body with two 30cm ish claws. Its teeth looked sharp as hell too. A narrow jawâŚrather than developed to better eat its foodâŚit seemed like it was designed to slaughter.
I thought a moment about whether I could go up against this thing. Even if it didnât have those claws and teeth, it had the advantage of longer limbs and bigger reach.
The answer was clear.
Run for my life.
âHaaaa!â
Crash!
The entire bus station crumpled like a piece of paper.
That thing was a level 4 monster at the very least.
Would I even be able to outrun it?
Swoop!
Crash!
Shit. It jumped over me and landed up front. The concrete had scattered and split from the impact. A chunk hit my cheek and made a long cut.
âCraaaaap!â
It began to swing its hand.
I jumped backwards to keep out of its reach.
Crasssh!
âUgh..â
My back. I could feel a cool and painful sensation. I didnât have time to check the damage. I can see the thing thinking for a minute so itâs not entirely stupid.
The girl was on the concrete floor crawling to move away. I could see her black stockings ripping from rubbing against the hard ground.
I hurriedly got up and grabbed her by the arm again.
Swish!
Crash!
The monsters claw swiped at the area we were in just a moment ago.
At least there was one hope.
âItâs slower than I thought.â
Compared to its strength and crazy jumping skills, his movements were on the slow side. Otherwise, we would have been caught in this monsterâs claw right when the girl and I attempted to roll away.
I took that small bit of hope and ran like hell. We just might get away. Shit.