Chapter 26 : S-Class Rank 5 (1)

What the hell am I going through right now?

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

Even though I must have been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, the endless barrage of slaps continues as if nothing happened.

Looking at the unknown mongrel in front of me, still moving normally even at the worst radiation level, I can’t help but think—radiation has officially gone beyond absurdity.

Rip.

“Ugh?!”

As if having most of my sharp teeth ripped out wasn’t enough, his fist lands squarely in my solar plexus.

She vomits a yellow liquid, like radioactive waste from inside, but the monster doesn’t even allow her to collapse, grabbing her hair tightly.

Staring at this unheard-of ‘monster brat’ standing above her, she felt an unfamiliar fear.

‘I… I… This radiation! Am I really trembling before some mongrel that crawled out of nowhere?!’

It makes no sense.

It’s impossible.

Even if it were true, she could never accept such a reality.

Because their very existence—monsters—was born from the fear of humans.

For a monster, which could be called fear itself, to feel fear?

That was as absurd as a sword breaking itself.

More than anything, there was only one situation where a monster was allowed to feel fear.

‘Am I beneath this bastard?!’

A monster born from an even greater fear.

Only when facing such a ‘worst-named’ monster.

Grrrrrr.

‘Let’s end this.’

Kang Jang-hoon drove the ‘domestic abuser’ in front of him to the brink of death, satisfying Carmilla, who had been watching.

Then, seeing the girl behind him muster all her strength to give a thumbs-up—

Clench.

“Guh…!”

He instinctively knew.

It was time to bring the curtain down.

Crack. Crack.

‘Die, trash.’

But at that moment—

“W-Wait!”

…?

Despite his entire body being mangled and covered in his own sulfur-colored blood—

He still had something left?

“Heh… If you kill me like this, you’re in big trouble.”

Grr?

‘…What?’

The radiation monster, grinning with nearly all his shark-like teeth gone.

“You. I don’t know what kind of monster you are or where you’re from, but isn’t saving Carmilla back there your top priority?”

“…Grr.”

‘And?’

“Heh… Then you really can’t kill me. Because I’m the only one who knows how to detoxify this radiation!”

“!!”

Of course, it was a lie.

The idea that a poison user would carry an antidote just in case—such a cliché.

Monsters had no need for such things.

‘Heh… Actually, there is one way to detoxify it, but there’s no way I’d ever reveal it unless I lost my mind.’

He had no idea why this freak was trying to protect Carmilla, but at this point, survival was all that mattered.

If he couldn’t be killed but also couldn’t die—he had a chance to negotiate…

Clench.

“Guh?!”

He had been thinking about how to remain in the human world.

But regardless, the grip around his neck tightened even harder?!

“W-What the hell are you doing?!”

“If I die, Carmilla will die soon after! Or… are you actually a monster? Do you hate saving humans?”

“Mister…”

What the hell was he thinking?

He seemed to be moving for Carmilla’s sake, so he thought persuading him would be easy.

But no matter how he looked at it, this guy’s face showed nothing but an intent to kill him.

Had he given up on Carmilla?

…Or worse—did he already know the ‘truth’ that only high-ranking monsters were aware of?!

Just as the radiation monster feared—

Grrrrrr.

‘Shut the hell up. If I feed Carmilla your heart, she’ll return to normal anyway, so why the hell would I need to make a deal?’

“?!”

A human harmed by a monster could return to their original state by consuming the dead heart of the monster that had caused their suffering.

But only an extreme minority of monsters knew this truth.

Only the highest-ranking monsters and a few high-level ones were aware of it.

‘Who the hell is this guy…?’

For the first time, the radiation monster completely lost his smile.

However, to Kang Jang-hoon, this information wasn’t anything special.

Because, in the countless wars between humans and monsters, this information, which still remained unknown…

‘Why are you so surprised? This was just explained in the game’s tutorial.’

The prologue of Monster Frontline.

In other words, it was just a basic game mechanic, taught in the mandatory tutorial, so players could defeat the boss monster effectively.

Just like that—

Grrr.

‘Go.’

“W-Wait! Do you even know who my sister is?!”

Radiation made a last-ditch effort as he saw the fist tightening toward him.

“My sister is none other than the famous monster! The ‘Monster of Nuclear Bombs,’ you bastard!”

Grr?!

‘N-Nuclear bomb?!’

“T-That’s right! You must have at least heard of that title! I’m the one and only sibling of that nuclear bomb! The Radiation of—” Heh heh heh…

But—

BOOM!

Grrrrrrk.

‘Wasn’t she just an NPC monster?’

As if he’d think about that later, his punch pierced straight through her head.

That single, powerful strike, much like with the Monster of Swords last time, created an instant updraft, making it rain over the entire area.

Perhaps thanks to that—

The yard, once filled with a thick haze of radiation, was being washed clean by the raindrops.

At the same time, Kim Yong-chan quickly ripped the heart out of the already lifeless Radiation.

Drip…

He immediately split the bloodied organ into two pieces.

One piece—

He placed into the mouth of Lazerita, who hadn’t moved an inch and seemed in the worst condition.

“Ugh… mister…”

The other piece—

He held out to Carmilla, who was barely conscious.

Grrrr.

‘You have to eat it, even if you don’t want to.’

A 2-meter-tall monster had just ripped out another monster’s heart and shoved it toward her mouth.

Under normal circumstances, anyone would have been utterly repulsed.

But—

‘Because it’s Mister… I’ll trust him!’

Because he was Mister, she trusted him.

So she opened her mouth and bit into Radiation’s heart.

Of course, the taste was horrendous.

“Ugh?!”

Like the combined stench of every disgusting thing on Earth.

Compared to this, even stinky tofu or durian seemed heavenly.

It was that vile and unbearably awful.

But—

Because Mister gave it to her.

Chew… chew chew!

‘I’ll eat it! I’ll eat it all!!’

She believed in him to the very end and swallowed the entire heart of Radiation.

And then—

After a few minutes had passed—

“Huh?”

Twitch, twitch.

Her body, which had been completely numb just moments ago, slowly began to move, starting with her fingers.

Even her falling hair was now growing back.

As she slowly stood up, she realized—

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of dizziness or aftereffects.

“They said I was exposed to radiation… but this is possible?”

It was as if her character had been fully restored after clearing a game.

Carmilla slowly moved her body around to test it—

And then turned toward her still-unconscious mother.

“Mom!”

She rushed toward Lazerita and carefully checked her pulse.

And then—

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“…!”

A much more stable heartbeat than before.

She was safe.

Really safe.

Her mom had really, truly come back to life.

“Mister…”

Grrrr.

“R-Really… really, thank you…!”

Just moments ago, Carmilla had been filled with frustration, her eyes brimming with tears.

But now, overwhelmed with happiness, she couldn’t stop crying.

Not only had he saved her, but he had also reunited her with the mother she thought she would never see again.

This was a debt she could never repay, even in a lifetime.

With that thought, she sniffled and started digging through her pockets, desperate to offer some kind of gratitude.

Whoosh.

“A-Ah! Mister!”

But before she could do anything—

Since he had already confirmed that Carmilla was completely fine—

Kang Jang-hoon simply smiled and walked away, as if his job was done.

‘With this, I’ve changed the fate of Ghost Carmilla from the original story, right?’

In the original, the Monster of Radiation hadn’t even appeared.

But now, he had unexpectedly defeated it.

That meant the girl’s bright future was secured.

And if any other obstacles appeared in her path, well—

As the mister she looked up to like a father, he could just help her again.

But for now—

That could all wait.

“There he is!”

“…The rumored First-Class monster…!”

“No, technically, he’s Provisional First-Class! The Hero Association is still adjusting his rank because they think he was overestimated at first!”

What the hell was this situation?

Did I take care of the real threat too quickly?

Because of that, the heroes of City C, none of whom had even been knocked out yet, seemed to be mistaking me for Radiation and were now chasing after me.

And as if that weren’t bad enough—

“Wait right there! Horned Mask!”

Grrr?

“I am B-Class Hero—Justice Highline! And I have come to stop you!”

“I’m here too! I’m B-Class Hero—Drenched Diva of the Floods!”

They had anticipated my escape route and jumped in—

Only to be effortlessly taken down in the next moment.

“Gaaah?! My Justice Punch can shatter concrete, but my own arm broke instead?!”

“M-My legs! These legs that can swim over 10 kilometers—the bones are shattered?!”

“Damn it, he really is First-Class, huh?!”

“He might even become First-Class soon! Everyone, keep your distance!”

Hey.

From an outsider’s perspective, it totally looks like I did that to them.

I just wanted to leave, but Kang Jang-hoon’s sheer presence was enough to cause collateral damage to humanity.

Even though he wasn’t fighting back, people kept getting injured just by trying to attack him.

He sighed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Meanwhile—

“Provisional First-Class, you say?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Weapon Master.”

On the rooftop of the tallest building in City C—

A woman gazed down at Horned Mask, watching him as if he were right in front of her, despite being hundreds of meters away.

“…This looks fun!”

Under the dark night sky, her pure white hair shimmered like moonlight.

Between her ruby-red eyes, a gleam of excitement shone, her pupils shaped like tiny hearts.

Her outfit?

A bulletproof vest—almost a shame, given her voluptuous figure.

Her hero name: Weapon Master.

Her real name: Yoon Ha-eun.

Despite not even being an adult yet, she had already secured Rank 5 among the S-Class heroes.

She was also the main culprit behind Monster Frontline later being reclassified from a 15+ game to an 18+ one.

“Just watching him… it’s making me wet…!”

…Of course, her back was.