The Monster Aspires to Be a Hero!

I began raining punches down on the monster’s face relentlessly.
Kang kang kang kang!
Puk pukbuk pukbuk pukguk!
Initially, harsh clanging sounds rang out as if striking rocks or metal, but gradually, sounds of pounding flesh reverberated.
Despite being a monster, it seemed unaware how to respond while being pounded.
Unlike before, the continuous head impacts likely disoriented it.
If I could just pulverize its face and kill it…!
But at that very thought:
Bang!
The head I had been hammering like a punching bag vanished.
No, a hole had opened up.
A hole, in that head which had seemed utterly indestructible.

Evade!
At Greed’s urgent shout, I promptly rolled aside to find something had been fired at my back.
Two long, whip-like protrusions, their metallic silver tips razor-sharp.
After repeatedly taking head strikes while retaining human form, the creature had finally abandoned that facade, transforming into a more aggressive shape.

A Riot…!
Greed muttered upon seeing the monster’s transformed appearance.
Indeed… it resembled one of the villains from Venom a bit.
With that body-transforming weaponized look.
The whip-blades lashed out.
Pang!
An explosive air-burst, instantly carving trajectories to slice my flesh.
A sharpness on another level compared to its previous attacks.
Had maintaining the human form been that strenuous?
As I evaded the monster’s strikes, sirens began blaring.

A monster has been detected! Those nearby must evacuate immediately!
The sudden siren activation seemed to coincide with the monster abandoning its human guise for its true form.

It was likely suppressing its monster wavelengths until now.
Greed theorized that by suppressing its wavelengths and enduring the inconvenient human shape, its combat power had been compromised compared to its durability.
If the monster had attacked at full force from the start…
A chilling thought.

With just the core, we can do it too!
Greed seemed dissatisfied at being overwhelmed by the monster before us, raising his voice.
Ssakpang!
“Ugh!”
Even saying that, this monster… is formidable.
Initially, I had solely relied on enhanced physicality, but now it seemed to understand how to properly wield its body.
Creating a one-sided dynamic.

There was about a 10m gap between the monster and me.
A distance I could cover in under a second if desired.
But I couldn’t afford to charge that short distance.
Woong paahng!
Relentless sonic boom-like strikes assailed me, aiming for vitals like my neck, chest and face in lethal attempts.
Having already engaged the monster in close combat, I knew my body’s limits.
Physical enhancement and fortification weren’t invincible.
They reinforced bones and flesh, but couldn’t protect internal organs.
A direct head strike still caused concussions, and attacks above a certain force damaged organs.
My eyes also received no defensive benefits.
Under such conditions, evading the monster’s near-invisible attacks while advancing was nearly impossible.

Pak! Pung! Kkwadeuduuk!
Slowly inching forward in a boxing guard stance to protect vital areas, the whip strikes still drew blood despite fortification.

Troublesome…
Even Greed seemed stumped, gritting his teeth at the predicament.
There were too many surveillance cameras here.
With Greed’s arms, I could deflect attacks while closing in, but that option was sealed.
If possible now, I could kill this monster.
Penetrating this assault and landing a full-force blow on its core-containing body would let me extract the core.
If someone could just buy a little time…!
But awaiting other heroes’ arrivals seemed unfeasible.
Any lapse in focus might instantly cost me my head.

Stay focused!
Snapping to attention at Greed’s roar, I steeled my resolve.
I took a step towards the monster.
Now around 9m apart, a distance I could cover with a single ground-kick at my current ability level.
Pang! Papapapang!
But as I closed the gap, the monster’s bladed whips grew sharper and swifter.
My upper body clothes were already in tatters, half-stripped off.
The guarding arms were gradually sliced like paper cuts.
Charging recklessly, I couldn’t even predict those madly whirling blade trajectories.
But I had to subdue it.
I had sworn to hunt down this particular monster.
Ever since apprehending that mimicking monster, the “Monster Slaying Game” had begun.
Inflicting wounds on too many victims.
A harsh society even for the able-bodied.
Yet some persevered stoically with their inconvenienced bodies, living life to the fullest.
Those individuals, always striving their utmost, ended up hurt and in tears because of these very monsters.
Surely some must have been people I encountered through volunteer work too.
No need to look far – the Hyunsungs and Insoo’s family had all suffered as well.
Individuals simply born unlucky or afflicted with disabilities through misfortune.
But must they endure torment from a single monster despite living their utmost day by day?
Unforgivable.
I clenched my teeth, stifling any groans, and glared forward with wide eyes.
The monster’s onslaught remained like a tempest, the surrounding air-bursts deafening.
Each whip-blade strike drew blood and jarred my bones.
Yet I still had an opening.

In the end, they’re still whips.
As Greed said, the monster’s attacks involved transforming its arms into whip-blades.
Whips utilize the “snap” – a small wave originating from the wrist grows exponentially faster by the tip’s release.
An attack too swift for ordinary eyes, leaving me solely on defensive guard.
But therein lay the opportunity.
Lines differ from points.
There were spatial constraints to the whipping arcs, further limited by using both arms as whips restricting the trajectories.
I merely had to endure this pain and keep advancing.
Difficult, but necessary.
‘Was it tough? It’s okay… it’ll be okay. I’ll capture that monster and eliminate it. I’ll prove you’re not a monster. Stay strong. I’m a hero, don’t you believe me?’

I had made that promise to someone who had cried out while being chased by their admired hero.
That I would apprehend this monster, ending the torment.
I grit my teeth.
Each strike jarred my bones and induced nausea, yet I kept inching forward step by step.
The surrounding sonic booms gradually faded from awareness.
My deafened senses made me feel dazed.

“Huu…”
Still, I persisted, taking another step.
It hurt.
Despite fortification, the relentless strikes drew gashes across my body, staining it crimson.
Over ten wounds from just a single step, nearly halting my stride.
Fear arose that the excessive bleeding might prove fatal.
The monster’s weight-loaded strikes penetrated my skin, jarring my bones.
An unpleasant sensation as if something was fracturing inside.
Yet I took another step forward.
No, this very pain enabled me to advance.
The victims hurt by this monster must have endured even greater agonies.
How much torment must they have suffered from the “human or monster” screening I had advocated to protect people?
The source of that suffering stood right before me.
Abandon any thought of surviving.

Only 3m separated the monster and me now.
The monster’s tempest had inexplicably subsided too.
Whips were only meaningful when the snap originating from the wrist acted on the tip.
At this range, no whipping held any significance.
Seeming to realize that, the monster tried to increase the distance.
But I firmly grabbed the whip-tentacle it had transformed its arm into.
“Where do you think you’re going, bastard?”

A student who had fled their admired hero despite being the victim, turning aggressor.
A kind uncle who had consoled me, the indirect cause, despite his own difficulties.
I could never forgive this creature for hurting such people.

The tentacle I had seized transformed, tightly gripping my fist.
Didn’t matter.
I’m right-handed anyway.
I lowered my stance.
Left foot forward, right foot back.
Inhaling deeply, I retracted my shoulders, focusing power into my hips.
One chance was all I had.
Greed.

Yeah!
Greed possessed bodily transformation abilities.
The tentacles extending from my scapulae watched movies and read comics, even cracking peanut shells.
An ability better kept concealed to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
But that simply meant not revealing it outwardly.
From my wrist down, my entire fist became encased in a hardened shell.

My carapace from when I was a monster.
Preparations complete.
Holding my breath, I clenched that shelled fist tightly.
The heel of my left foot, angled towards the monster’s side, lifted as I turned to face it directly.
Power coiled into my hips, twisting my upper body’s sidelong stance into a frontal one.
The force originating from my hips transferred to my shoulders, that clenched shellshell fist thrust forward, cleaving the air towards the monster’s core-containing body.
An unstoppable punch when it had mimicked Taeil’s human form.
But not anymore.
Puk! Pung!
My punch pierced straight through the monster’s torso with an explosive airbursting sound.
“Kuhrrurruuk, kuhruk…”
“Surprised, huh?”
This monster transformed its body for offensive flexibility.
Having shifted into a more aggressive physique than its human disguise, everywhere except its whip-arms was softer than expected.
It had likely intended to harden its body upon being struck, like in human form, but…

Khahaha!
My anti-degradation ability blocks physical transformations.
And that extends the potential to negate even Greed’s ability to seize my body and become a monster.
The moment it made contact with my fist, the battle was already over.
“Kuh, rruuk, kuhe, huggeuuu…”
The monster’s body convulsed before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
I heavily sat down beside the fallen monster.
“Huhuk, huhuk, huhuk…”
All strength seemed to drain from my body.
A profound sense that I had truly hunted down a monster for the first time.
I gazed at the core clutched in my hand.
Around the size of my fist, it seemed to be around C-rank in size.
Yet it was this powerful despite only being C-rank?

Rather than larger monsters, less physical upkeep means more compressed strength.
Ah, I see.
It did make sense that smaller robot batteries would be more efficient than larger ones.
Perhaps monsters were growing more cunning too?
This monster may have been a vanguard of some mutant monster horde about to emerge.
Such thoughts crossed my mind.