Chapter 25 : The Strongest Poison of Modern Times (3)

A person’s attachment is truly terrifying.

At first, I was just going to provide a little mental care, then return to my human state tomorrow and meet again.

“See you next time!”

Carmilla smiled brightly at me and waved her innocent hands.

Seeing her childlike expression, I thought to myself—

‘That smile… Will it soon disappear into a night of abuse and violence…?’

Maybe it was because I felt unnecessary sympathy.

“A-a monster?!”

“This wall is a whole 50 meters tall!”

That evening, I casually informed the lady that I would be coming home late.

Then, using pure physical strength, I leaped over the barrier between E City and C City, tracking Carmilla’s scent all the way here.

But what the hell is this?

This god-awful sight.

“Ah, sir…”

“Kruruk?!”

‘Carmilla.’

Carmilla was collapsed in the yard of her house, leaking an unknown black liquid.

And then I quickly realized—this inky black fluid was blood.

‘How… How can a person’s blood turn this black?’

I couldn’t understand it.

For now, I threw a punch at the deep green monster, which seemed to be the cause of all this, sending it crashing down.

Then I knelt on one knee before Carmilla, unsure of what to do next.

“For the record, if I were you, I wouldn’t touch her.”

“Krurk?”

Should I gently lift her up and leave her in front of a large hospital nearby?

Just as I was thinking that—

“Carmilla has already been ‘exposed.’ If you take an exposed infected person around carelessly, both you and she will be exterminated together.”

I had controlled my strength to minimize damage to my home, yet all that happened was a small trickle of yellowish nosebleed.

Before I knew it, the deep green, human-shaped monster got up perfectly fine and trudged toward me.

“Krrrrk?”

‘Who the hell are you?’

I asked the monster.

“Krrk. Krrk!”

‘Did you do this to Carmilla? Do you have some kind of grudge against her?’

“Haha. A grudge? That’s disappointing. Do you really not remember me? If we’re talking about grudges, I have the biggest one against you!”

“…Krurk?”

‘Me?’

The deep green monster suddenly acted like it knew me.

When I tilted my head in confusion—

“You threw me into that car this morning, you damn mutt.”

“…Kruruk?”

‘…What?’

Bringing up something that happened between me and Lazerita earlier today, the monster pointed at Lazerita, who lay unconscious behind it.

And then it dropped a shocking truth.

“Do you still not get it? It’s me! The Lazerita you beat to a pulp at lunchtime today! I’ve been possessing this woman’s body all this time, pretending to be Carmilla’s mother!”

Cough! Cough!

Strangely, my coughing wouldn’t stop.

As the monster spewed out nonsense I didn’t want to understand, my chest burned with heat.

The real identity of the woman who used to beat Carmilla mercilessly.

Lazerita, who never felt like family, wasn’t even human—she was a monster all along.

Even as an outsider, I could barely believe it.

How much more suffering had Carmilla endured, forcing herself to accept that thing as her mother?

But before I could even react—

“Oh, by the way, mutt. For a monster, you sure are friendly with humans, huh?”

It seemed like the monster was charging toward me.

But at the last moment, it suddenly leaped over me—

Straight toward the child hiding behind my back.

Carmilla.

And just as it raised its foot to stomp down on her—

Boom!

“Mister…!”

“Kya-haha! Are you seriously telling me—a monster—is protecting a human?!”

At that moment, I quickly bent my waist over Carmilla, acting as a shield to protect her.

“How pathetic… A monster siding with humans! You’re a real idiot, aren’t you?!”

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

And so—

While the radiation monster persistently targeted Carmilla, the monster-fied Kang Jang-hoon curled up and did not move.

Like a turtle shell trying to protect its core,

He simply endured the blows over and over again.

And for the radiation monster, this was the perfect opportunity.

Because every time it hit him—

Cough! Cough! Cough!

“N-no… M-mister…!”

“Kya-hahaha! Do you think even monsters are immune to radiation?! Radiation is a lethal poison to all living things!”

Kang Jang-hoon’s coughing was growing worse.

“In fact, from the moment you stepped into this field—and the moment you punched my face—you were already exposed.”

“…!”

“I am a radiation monster. My very existence spreads contamination. And yet, you dared to fight me up close?”

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

“Know your place, you worthless trash!”

Crash!

Ah, that feels great.

The radiation monster felt as if it was soaring through the sky.

A low-class monster it had never even seen before—

Had the audacity to humiliate a high-ranking monster like itself.

If they had met in another world, this thing wouldn’t have even dared to make eye contact.

But because it got too cocky, it ended up ruining all of the original plans.

But so what?

This feeling right now is amazing.

Unexpectedly, even after returning to his true form, that thing was still withstanding its attacks.

Well, at least its durability was worth acknowledging.

However, radiation does not destroy from the outside—

It seeps into the inside.

It starts at the cellular level and slowly rots away all living things from within.

“Cough?!”

“N-no… Mister…!”

Ah—

“That’s right! You finally coughed up blood!”

Kang Jang-hoon, who had been curled over Carmilla, suddenly spewed out a strange black liquid from his mouth.

Upon seeing that sight, a worried voice rose from within—

While, outside, an ecstatic cheer burst out as if they had won the lottery.

“Yes, yes! This is it! This is what I wanted!”

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

“Yeah! Keep coughing! The more you do, the more your platelets will be destroyed!”

“Mister… No, please…!”

Carmilla desperately tried to lift up the monster man who was shielding her.

After all, she was already doomed.

She was going to die from radiation exposure anyway.

There was no need for someone else to throw their life away for a lost cause—

Her father, who had just learned the truth, was more than enough.

So, summoning all her remaining strength, she pounded her fists against the massive body looming over her.

But—

“This is the finishing blow.”

“…!!”

There wasn’t even time for regret.

The radiation monster, having stopped its relentless kicks, now raised one arm high into the sky.

As it did, an enormous amount of sulfur-colored energy began to gather in its fist.

“If the radiation I’ve been spreading so far was like leftover nuclear fallout, then this one is on a completely different level.”

“A completely… different level?”

“That’s right, Carmilla. Have you ever heard of ‘solar radiation’ in science class?”

Solar radiation.

If the radiation that humans create on Earth comes from artificial nuclear fission and fallout—

Then solar radiation is pure energy born from natural nuclear fusion.

In theory, its power is approximately 24 quadrillion times that of the first atomic bomb.

“Well, the solar radiation I create isn’t quite that powerful…”

“M-mister… Run, please…!”

“But it’s more than enough to trigger a small nuclear fusion reaction inside a living body.”

And with that—

Whoosh.

Just like how sunlight naturally passes through human skin,

The golden sphere of energy, gathered in the radiation monster’s palm,

Was gently pressed into Kang Jang-hoon’s exposed back.

“Die!”

“Ah—No!”

For a moment, everything was still.

It was as if the entire world had stopped moving.

And then, the sound came.

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

A fit of uncontrollable, frenzied coughing—

From the horned-mask monster who had never sounded so desperate before.

At the same time, Kang Jang-hoon, with black liquid pouring from his eyes, nose, and mouth—

Stood there, convulsing.

“Kya-hahaha! Of course, it’s me! A mere Grade 1 monster?!”

“You think a lowly Grade 1 can even compare to me?!”

“I’m Special Grade, you idiot!”

The radiation monster finally seemed convinced of its victory and cheered triumphantly.

“Kr… Kruruk…”

“Are you still trying to say something before you die?”

“Krurk… Krurk…! Kr…!”

“Heh, heh. Well, it’s not like we’ll be seeing each other again, so I’ll at least grant you the courtesy of hearing your last words.”

Was it trembling because of the nuclear fusion still raging inside its body?

The radiation monster sneered down at the dying mutt, determined to mock him to the very end.

“Here, isn’t this easier?”

It even knelt down to bring its ear closer to the face of the collapsed monster.

Barely holding back its laughter, waiting for whatever pitiful words would come next.

“Monsters, you know… when they perish in the human world, they return to the otherworld, don’t they?”

“Like that human concept of reincarnation?”

“Cough! Cough! Cough—!!”

“When a monster is sent back to the otherworld, it takes dozens, maybe even hundreds of years to return to the human world.”

“How long do you think it will take for you to come back here?”

“…Do we… disappear for good?”

A monster never truly dies.

Like a respawning enemy in a video game, they eventually return to the human world.

It’s just that the wait is counted in years, maybe even centuries.

Carmilla, hearing this, felt both relief and sorrow.

Relief that the monster man wouldn’t die forever.

But also sadness—because it meant she might never see him again.

And yet…

Well, she was going to die soon anyway, so it wouldn’t matter in the end.

Still… if, by some miracle, she could live,

She wanted to walk beside him again.

To talk with him just one more time.

“Krurk?! Kaak—Kak!”

“Kya-hahaha! Is this it? Is this finally the end?”

“Yes! Hurry up and spit out your last words already!”

At last, the horned-mask monster seemed to reach its limit.

Its mouth fell open wide as if to utter its final words.

The radiation monster waited with eager anticipation.

And then—

“Kh…!”

‘It’s so…’

“OH!”

“Kraaararak!”

‘Spicyyyyyyyyyy—!!’

“…Huh?”

The lethal dose of radiation had been fully absorbed.

On top of that, Kang Jang-hoon had even taken in solar radiation.

And yet, the first words out of his mouth—

Were nothing more than a reaction to eating Level 5 Hellfire Tteokbokki.

With tears and snot streaming down his face, his tongue stuck out, red and swollen.

“Spicy?!”

Smack!

“Puhek?!”

Before the radiation monster could even process what was happening—

A furious slap landed, sending teeth flying like popcorn.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Kraaarak! Kraaak!?”

‘You bastard?! Even a Korean can’t handle that much capsaicin! It messes with your insides, damn it!!’

“W-wait, hold on—let’s talk this out—!”

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!