A male-oriented collection mobile game.
<Kaiju Frontline>
The game’s style was extremely simple.
In Hero City, divided into Zones A and B from 2:00 AM to 2:00 PM, ‘recruit’ girls who can use superpowers and defeat the kaiju!
…a typical otaku narrative.
Well, I started playing because I liked such stories in the first place.
Even if it seemed a bit cringy or childish to others, I was an open beta player of <Kaiju Frontline> from its early service days.
Until I upgraded a 1-star character to 5 stars.
Then, when exclusive equipment was introduced, I spent money to collect and equip them.
Afterward, when exclusive equipment could also be upgraded to a max rank of 3 stars, I maxed them all out.
And then, when the 5-star characters could be upgraded further with a new “6-star Awakening” growth system, I raised them to higher levels.
And then again, when the pet system was introduced, I poured hundreds more into gacha to acquire pets…
“Sigh…”
Looking back now, I could understand exactly why I quit the game.
The absurd cash grabs by the developers were just insane.
The business model needs to be reasonable for spending to feel satisfying, but then rumors about an even stronger “7-star Awakening” started circulating.
The game lasted 5 years.
At that time, the number of active players was barely 100.
For a mobile game, it was a relatively long lifespan, but it was also on the verge of collapse.
In <Kaiju Frontline>, I was one of the so-called “100-member corps.”
The final hope of a dying game, the dedicated veteran players.
A completely broken individual.
That was me.
But even I quit when it was confirmed that the 7-star Awakening rumor was true.
“…I’m done.”
I had already spent a fortune on this game, but the news of another paywall made me immediately delete <Kaiju Frontline> from my phone.
And then, ten years later.
“Grrrrk! Grrrk!”
‘What the hell.’
I found myself in the main stage of <Kaiju Frontline>, Hero City.
Not as the protagonist of the male-oriented collection mobile game I had once been obsessed with…
Not even as a gender-swapped female character who could use superpowers.
Instead, I had been reincarnated as a monster, one of the kaiju meant to be defeated.
Let’s retrace my memories.
My name is Kang Janghoon.
This year, I turned 37.
I was an ordinary office worker who, as always, woke up early to head to work.
But the traffic light was definitely green.
Honk honk!
“…Damn.”
If it had been late at night, I might have understood… but no, even at night, this shouldn’t happen.
I seemed to have been hit by a drunk truck driver in broad daylight and died instantly without even feeling pain.
When I came to my senses,
I found myself in a world that looked somewhat similar to Earth but was vastly different.
A world where the uncharted wastelands and ruins far outweighed the areas settled by humanity.
In this world, only women among humans could use “superpowers” to protect people from monsters known as kaiju.
A world with a story where “female heroes” ensured humanity’s survival.
At some point, I had been reincarnated into <Kaiju Frontline>, the mobile game I quit ten years ago.
Not as Kang Janghoon, who had just died.
Not as a gender-swapped female character who could use superpowers.
“Grrr… Grrrk.”
Instead, as a monster with grotesque crimson-black leather skin, flesh fluttering like a cape, and a horrifying horned mask face.
A creature so dangerous-looking that it seemed it should be exterminated immediately, with even flames growing from its golden body.
“Grrrk. Grrrk.”
‘Damn, this is bad…’
Isn’t there some kind of rule when you get hit by a truck and reincarnate in another world?
You wake up and find yourself reborn as a hero…
An elf mage, a tsundere priest, and various male characters, etc.,
Starting an adventure with them, saving the world along the way,
And even having stormy romantic nights with the heroines who became both companions and friends during that journey for future generations.
One way or another, you’re supposed to be someone loved by the people of this other world.
Isn’t that the golden rule for reincarnated truck accident victims?
But now, looking at myself through the broken building’s glass window, what am I even looking at?
My height was roughly 2 meters.
My appearance was like a warden straight out of hell.
Even in <Kaiju Frontline>, I don’t remember there being many kaiju with such a hideous design.
Of course, if this kind of design were overused, the impact of weekly or regular bosses would decrease.
Right, this kind of visual would at least belong to a chapter boss.
The kind of look you’d only see in ‘named kaiju.’
‘By the way, just what kind of kaiju have I been reincarnated into?’
It had already been a week since I started wandering through this ruined city.
The place where I first woke up.
Perhaps it had recently been attacked by kaiju, or maybe it was because the power hadn’t gone out yet.
Even as a kaiju, I got hungry, and whenever that happened, I’d stop by the collapsed convenience stores and eat whatever cold drinks and snacks I could find.
“Grrrrrk! Grrrk!”
‘At least there’s no one to yell at me for this!’
No matter how money-hungry a convenience store owner might be, if a kaiju eats some snacks while the store is already destroyed,
Who in their right mind would scold them for it?
…Wait, but is the store owner even alive?
Munch munch munch.
Ah, the chocolate bar melts so smoothly.
In <Kaiju Frontline>, this was an overwhelmingly useful stamina recovery item you could get early on.
It was called Freedom Choco Bar.
In the game, it was a ridiculously broken item that let you use turn-limited skills every 3 turns by simply consuming it.
If purchased with real money, it only cost 100 won per bar.
‘100 won… I thought it was such a kind and cheap business model, so I used it freely,
But when I came to my senses, I had already spent about 50,000 won on a single battle.’
The problem was, while using it in PVE battles against monsters was fine,
You could also use it in PVP battles against other players.
Once both sides started popping choco bars…
Shakes head.
I don’t even want to think about it.
It became a battle of who would run out of money first, starting with just 100 won.
Even thinking about it now gives me PTSD.
Munch munch munch.
“Grrrk… Grrrk…”
‘Still, am I really going to have to live in these ruins until I die?’
Convenience store food isn’t infinite.
More than that, even though I look like this, I’m still a “person.”
A person needs to live where it smells like people.
If I kept living like this, I’d mentally break down before my body gave out.
And more importantly, just as I had become a kaiju, other kaiju also existed in the <Kaiju Frontline> world.
‘It’s already been three days of this, and I’ve run into them three or four times.’
Monsters that were several times bigger and scarier-looking than me,
Though maybe because my face is already so terrifying,
We’ve just ended up running away from each other so far without any major issues.
But if I fought those guys, I would definitely die.
Just like right now.
Crash!
“Grrrk?!”
The shattered glass of the convenience store,
And something that fell into the triangular rice ball section.
At first, I thought it was a bomb that had dropped, so I ducked, bringing both arms over my head.
Then, noticing the eerie silence, I slowly got up and looked around.
What I saw was none other than the head of a kaiju that had just attacked the convenience store,
Which had been my meal source for the past three days.
‘H-Huh?!’
It was the severed head of a kaiju resembling a cow,
About the same size as me, covered in thick, shaggy fur.
‘W-What the heck is this?! …Oh, could this be the “Goat Kaiju”?
Now that I think about it, I might’ve seen it in the game.’
The Goat Kaiju.
It was classified as a low-tier kaiju, ranking between 5th and 4th grade.
Among the kaiju hierarchy, it was referred to by veterans as nothing more than a giant sandbag.
Perhaps due to its near non-existent offensive power combined with its extremely high defensive capabilities.
It was a kaiju often hunted by veteran players to practice their combos,
And I had also used this kaiju to test out various character combinations.
…But in reality, were you always this terrifying?
‘Kaiju usually had their strength determined by their “epithet” in front of their name, according to the lore.’
This was still an unresolved “teaser” I hadn’t uncovered before uninstalling the game.
However, from what I gathered, kaiju were all connected to certain specific human societal concepts.
And those concepts became their epithet when they appeared as kaiju.
Their source of power was derived from the fear they invoked in humanity.
For example, the Goat Kaiju before me.
There were very few people who feared goats,
So its epithet didn’t invoke much fear, and as a result, it couldn’t become very strong.
But then, there were names that invoked universal fear.
Names like “Dominance,” “Gun,” or “Chainsaw.”
ChainsawChainsawChainsaw… anyway, Chainsaw.
‘W-Wait, don’t tell me there’s a kaiju with a chainsaw stuck to its head nearby?!’
Just hearing such an epithet sent chills down my spine.
Kaiju with those kinds of fearsome names treated kaiju like this cow as mere fodder.
“Grrrrrk!”
The real question was—where did this thing fly in from?
For a kaiju that prided itself on its defense to have its neck cleanly severed and its head sent flying here…
It could only mean there was something truly dangerous nearby.
Rustle rustle rustle!
Before running away, I quickly grabbed some chocolate bars and bottled water to stuff into my arms.
“Grrrrrk!”
‘Run for it!’
Creak.
I pushed open the punctured convenience store door and stepped outside.
And then.
Immediately after.
…Beep.
“Grrrk?”
What? Never seen a kaiju grabbing chocolate bars before?
Not stolen… just found chocolate bars tucked into my arms,
As if scanning their barcode, a red dot slowly rose from my chest to my head.
A sniper scope had locked onto my forehead.