Chapter 4

Kiiiieeek!

At the instant the monster rat screamed—

my hand was already gripping its head.

Crack!

With a sound like a watermelon bursting, its head exploded.

A repulsive liquid splattered in all directions, but the golden energy covering my body repelled it.

‘Light.’

It was light as a feather.

It’s not just that my strength increased.

My senses became sharper.

The reaction speed of my muscles surpasses even my thoughts.

‘All attributes at 100.’

A normal hunter or awakened has around 10 points at level 1.

To reach 100 in all attributes, at least level 10 is needed.

‘Starting at level 10.’

Not a bad start.

To be honest.

It’s overwhelming.

‘That only means Rag’s growth potential is insane.’

I smiled faintly, threw the rat’s corpse aside, and stepped out.

“Aaaah!”

“R-run!”

“They’re monsters! The rats are eating people!”

A hell.

Outside was a disaster.

From the cracks in the asphalt, dozens, hundreds of monster rats kept emerging.

They attacked everything they found, climbed buildings, tore people apart.

Observing that chaos, I analyzed the situation coldly.

‘We were always wrong.’

In the past, humanity thought monsters appeared and then destroyed everything.

But no.

The order was reversed.

‘The disaster happens first.’

An earthquake opens a dimensional crack.

And from that crack, monsters emerge.

That is to say.

‘If you eliminate the disaster, the monsters will disappear.’

If you remove the cause, the result disappears.

We never understood that simple truth until the end.

We were too busy killing what was in front of us.

But this time is different.

I know the answer.

Boom!

I stomped the ground.

The asphalt sank as my body shot forward like a projectile.

“Kieh?”

A rat blocked my path.

I threw a punch.

Boom!

The upper half of its body flew off, crushing the ones behind it.

Everything that gets in my way, I destroy.

My fists did not stop.

I slit throats with my hand, crushed several with a single kick.

“S-save us!”

A mother and her daughter were screaming, cornered.

Five rats surrounded them.

I didn’t stop.

I picked up a stone from the ground and threw it.

Fwoosh!

Driven by my strength, it flew like a bullet.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Three rats died instantly.

The other two turned their heads in confusion.

Too late.

My fist was already in their stomachs.

Crack!

“…Huh?”

Without looking back, I kept running.

I don’t need thanks.

What matters is finding the source.

Then.

Humm—

My palm began to vibrate.

The golden rune glowed faintly.

Like a compass.

My hand pointed in a direction.

‘There.’

In the center of Seoul.

The largest sinkhole.

Black smoke was coming out of it.

That is the origin of the earthquake.

The core of the disaster.

I changed direction.

But there was a problem.

Kiiiieeek!

Kirik! Kiririk!

Too many.

The closer I got, the more rats appeared.

Not only that.

Bzzzz—

An unpleasant sound came from the sky.

I looked up.

Giant dragonflies, the size of people, were flying in a swarm.

‘Demon Fly.’

One of the monsters that killed the most awakened at the beginning.

Attacks from both land and air.

Breaking through using only physical strength would take too long.

‘Annoying…’

The Descent time is limited.

I can’t waste it on mere filler enemies.

Just as I was about to clench my fist—

Ding!

A system message appeared before me.

[The conditions to use the disaster ‘Typhoon of Massacre’ have been met.]

[It can be manifested with the current body.]

[Do you wish to use it?]

Conditions met?

Probably because of the number of enemies and because it is the ideal environment for an ‘annihilation’.

I nodded without hesitation.

Fwoooong—

A small vortex appeared in the palm of my left hand.

‘Does the right absorb and the left release?’

Input and output.

I understood the structure.

This must be the basic principle of the ‘Devourer of Disasters’ class.

The wind, which at first was the size of a ping-pong ball, grew in an instant to the size of a basketball.

The compressed air shrieked.

Wiiiiiiii—

The rats around me stepped back, as if sensing instinctive fear.

But it was too late.

I threw that ‘disaster’ toward the area where the monsters were most concentrated.

“Wipe everything out.”

Thunk—

The moment it touched the ground—

Kwooooooooom!

With an explosive roar, the atmosphere distorted.

The enormous typhoon I had seen in Asgard—

descended right into the center of Seoul.

Kiiiek!

Kiiiieeeek!

They couldn’t even scream properly.

The rats were swept away like dry leaves.

The dragonflies in the air were torn apart and absorbed into the eye of the typhoon.

Debris, cars, and thousands of monsters were crushed like in a gigantic blender.

Overwhelming destructive power.

That was ‘annihilation’.

“Clean.”

I shook my hand.

The cleanup was finished.

I equipped the ‘Spiritual Wings’ and descended toward the sinkhole.

***

The bottom was not visible.

The depth was absurd.

Without the wings, I would never have dared to go down.

Shuuuu—

I descended through the wind.

Total darkness.

But it didn’t matter.

Humm—

The golden light from my hand illuminated everything.

‘I’ve arrived.’

Finally.

My feet touched solid ground.

It didn’t look like a natural cave.

It was an artificially carved space.

I put away the wings and advanced toward the golden light.

And at the end—

“…A person?”

It wasn’t a monster egg.

Nor a magic stone.

It was a man.

Sitting in a lotus position on a rock.

He sensed me as well.

“What are you?”

Clearly surprised.

“How did you get in? I blocked the entrance with rats.”

“There was a path.”

“…Impossible.”

He looked me up and down.

Then he looked upward.

“Wait… that energy… a typhoon?”

He looked at me again.

His gaze changed.

“Don’t tell me… are you an ‘avatar’?”

“……”

“Strange… the areas shouldn’t overlap…”

Avatar.

Area.

Administrator.

The pieces fit together.

Disasters have territories.

And those who generate them have human form.

And also—

‘I know him.’

That face.

“Kim Yuhwan?”

He flinched.

“How do you know my nick?”

Confirmed.

The Steel Hero, Kim Yuhwan.

A hero who appeared like a star in Korea.

He saved many with his hardened body.

And now he was sitting here as the origin of the earthquake.

‘…So that’s how it was.’

A chilling hypothesis arose.

The strongest heroes.

Their true identity.

‘Allies of the gods?’

Not exactly.

Avatars?

Perhaps.

‘A game of the gods?’

Kim Yuhwan is a ‘character’.

An avatar created by the gods on Earth.

Just like I created Rag.

The difference is they cause disasters, kill humans, and level up.

Then they appear as heroes.

“Ha.”

I laughed.

We worshiped them as saviors.

Those bastards.

“Interesting.”

My killing intent boiled.

Kim Yuhwan tilted his head.

“What’s so funny? Which god are you from?”

“You don’t need to know.”

There’s no reason to talk.

I’ll find out by killing him.

Boom!

The ground exploded as I launched myself.

“What—?!”

Krrrrr—

He struck the ground.

Giant rocks emerged.

Earthquake control.

But it’s useless.

Flap!

I spread my wings.

I leaped between the rocks and flew straight at him.

“What is this?!”

He crossed his arms.

His skin turned to steel.

‘Hardening.’

His ability.

Absolute defense.

But—

‘That’s against humans.’

My strength is 100.

I’m beyond scale.

BOOOOM!

My punch hit.

“Aaaagh!”

The steel deformed.

He was sent flying.

“Cough…!”

He stood up.

His arms shattered.

“Impossible…”

“……”

“How are you this strong from the start? The tutorial just began!”

I stepped forward.

“No way… are you a higher god?”

I approached.

“Don’t come closer! We are gods!”

Rules.

Confirmed.

They are gods.

‘Gods of the tower.’

“Kill me and you’ll only lose an avatar!”

“Do it.”

“My real body is in Asgard!”

“Do it if you can.”

Humm—

The rune glowed.

Predatory instinct.

The light pierced his chest.

“Aaaah!”

He convulsed.

“Logout!”

Nothing.

“Why…?”

He understood.

“You’re absorbing… my divinity?”

“……”

“Stop!”

He tried to pull me away.

His fingers broke.

“Aaaaah!”

He disintegrated.

“Save…”

He vanished.

Silence.

[You have devoured the ‘Lesser God of Earthquakes, Kartal’.]

[You have absorbed his divinity.]

[You can use ‘Minor Earthquake’.]

[The power depends on mana.]

[Episode 1 ‘Invasion’ completed.]

[Extreme contribution.]

[Rank 1.]

[Reward: dragon egg, 15 fragments.]

[You have leveled up.]