I don’t know when or which subculture game was the first.
But at some point, among subculture games, there began to be events celebrating the game’s survival, not even for the first anniversary, but the 0.5-year anniversary.
Usually, during such anniversary events, there was a culture of giving out “freebies,” resources for users exhausted by numerous monetization schemes.
But our game, <Kaiju Frontline>.
Looking back now, it seemed this game didn’t even have a “.5-year anniversary event” at the 0.5-year mark because there were still too many users, and they didn’t want to waste it.
It wasn’t until the 1.5-year mark that they held the event, and even then, it already showed signs of trouble.
[The Monster of Violence Appears in Hero City?! To defeat it, you need the heroes’ exclusive equipment!]
Come on, isn’t an anniversary event supposed to be filled with endless freebies and convenience updates?
Instead of those luxurious updates, the content of <Kaiju Frontline>’s 1.5-year anniversary event was this:
The announcement of heroes’ exclusive equipment and 100 free gacha pulls (non-carryover).
And yet, whether I was naive or just plain stupid at the time…
“Wow, we get 100 free pulls?!”
My brain must have been broken because I was happy enough to spend about 300,000 won worth of freebies with a dumb smile on my face.
That evening.
“Ah, why won’t this bastard die?!”
The event boss monster could only be defeated with exclusive equipment.
To defeat the Monster of Violence, you needed the heroes’ exclusive equipment, costing about 600,000 won per person at max upgrades.
Since you could organize up to five heroes in one party…
“My, my head… it’s breaking…!”
So, by smashing my savings and my mental state, I poured 3 million won into the game.
The result?
I ended up spending 10 times the free resources (non-carryover) and faced two months of eating only ramen for the 1.5-year anniversary.
Around a month and a half later, I collapsed from anemia after eating nothing but ramen and had to break my savings again for hospital bills.
My dark history of ending up in a hospital because of women made of nothing but zeroes and ones.
Even though it happened over ten years ago, I can’t forget it no matter how much I try.
If at least they were real women, I could say I was “sponsored” and make it into a story. But seriously, where do you talk about being scammed by game characters?
But, lo and behold, the saying that you meet your enemy on a single log bridge came true.
The one who gave me my first heartbreak… no, literally made me collapse and taste the pain of a hospital bed.
The Monster of Violence.
That bastard… no, that monster was right in front of me.
“Gr-grr…”
“Grk?”
The bastard who gave me the double pain of losing my savings and anemia.
I walked up behind it, just as it was about to rip apart some female soldiers.
Maybe it sensed my rage-filled presence because it turned toward me with that shameless, 300,000-won face.
Smack.
I slapped it with the fury of my soul.
And then.
“Kyaaaaagh?!”
At that moment, blood splattered everywhere.
Whoosh…
Wait, all I did was slap it.
Why is it flying away endlessly, spilling sharp teeth like it was losing popcorn?
Boom!
It crashed into the department store wall it had knocked down earlier, coughing up blood.
“…Grk?”
‘Huh?’
Mind you, up until a week ago, I was just an ordinary salaryman.
I had no connection to punching things, and even when I hit the monster, I unconsciously avoided causing serious injury by using an open hand instead of a fist.
But still, why is its face covered in blood?
“Th-the minor monster… attacked the Monster of Violence?”
“What? Is it infighting?”
“No, wait… did he do that to a first-class monster in a single blow?”
Meanwhile, the female soldiers watching me started making their own interpretations of my actions.
Even if you call it a “single blow,” does a slap even count as one?
More importantly, they shouldn’t be standing around like this right now.
“Screeeeee—!!”
“Eek?!”
“The, the Monster of Violence…”
“It’s transforming!”
The thing was, this first-class monster wasn’t just any ordinary boss.
Even when I played <Kaiju Frontline>, there were no “special-class monsters” because they hadn’t been balanced yet.
In other words, this monster was one of the strongest among the ones I remembered.
And as with all games, the boss monster, Violence, had a system where it would resurrect in a new phase, called a “phase transition.”
“T-this can’t be…”
“The Monster of Violence’s form is…!”
From what I remembered, the Monster of Violence had three lives.
You had to fight it three times as it transitioned into different phases.
And now, entering its second phase, its back was starting to sprout arms…
Crack, crack.
Crack!
“Grk?”
“T-this can’t be, six arms?!”
“The Monster of Violence has grown six arms!”
“Are they sprouting from its sides and back? Anyway, nothing good will come from interfering in a monster fight. Let’s retreat immediately!”
“””Understood!”””
Wait.
Growing six arms should only happen during the final third phase or in the hidden fourth phase.
‘Just how hard did my slap hit it for this to happen?’
As I watched the Monster of Violence revealing all its hidden tricks from the start, I noticed its teeth falling out one by one.
For some reason, I felt guilty.
So, I decided to apologize for knocking out its teeth, even though I’d already cracked its jaw.
“Gr… Grk…”
“Ah, if it hurt, I’m sorry…”
“Graaaaaaaaahhhhhh—!!”
One of the fundamental ways to instill fear in humans is through violence.
The Monster of Violence, born from the fear of violence, wanted to showcase its might to the world, befitting its infamous name.
Especially to those who were not its kind—the humans who created them.
It was almost an instinct, a need to demonstrate its power to the humans.
But right after crossing into the human world after its creation,
The monster, for a mere month (which meant little to it), had been basking in its superiority.
Smack.
‘What… is this?’
A being more violent than itself, the very embodiment of violence?
And when it realized that the being was of its own kind,
It felt as though its entire existence had been denied.
For the first time in its life, its pride had been scratched.
Unwilling to accept this, the Monster of Violence began to rampage, and perhaps because it had suffered a “significant shock” that knocked all its teeth out,
It immediately awakened to its final and most powerful form.
“Kyaaaaah! Kyaaaaaaaahhh!!”
I’ll kill it.
Something that uses violence better than me.
Be it my own kind or whatever, I’ll kill it!
With its six arms, the Monster of Violence leapt high into the sky, descending upon the masked kin who was standing idly.
The beating rush began simultaneously.
With merciless fists, true to its name, the Monster of Violence pounded its kin into the ground, causing the earth to crumble and a dust storm to rise.
“Die, die, die, die, die—!!”
Eventually, a massive crater formed, and an earthquake measuring over magnitude 7 shook the entirety of City Y.
“Die, die, die, die, dieeeee—!!”
Regardless of whether the continent split into islands,
True to its name as the Monster of Violence,
True to its nature as the embodiment of violence!
The Monster of Violence, using its six arms without rest, slammed the ground to its limit.
“Graaaaaah!”
With a final blow, it gathered all its fists together and brought them down on the masked kin.
Boom.
For a moment, not only City Y but the entire Hero City seemed to shake.
Even City A, on the far edge of City Y, felt a faint tremor.
When the one-sided violence finally ended,
“Gr… Graaaaaah!”
The one screaming in pain was, of course, not the one who was hit…
“Graaaaaaaaaah!”
“…Grk?”
‘…Hey, are you okay?’
…Instead, it was as if an egg had struck a rock.
The Monster of Violence, with all six arms broken, let out a scream of pain as it fell backward into the deep crater.
“Gr… Graaaah! Graaaaahh!”
It couldn’t even clench its fists anymore.
Its finger bones had torn through its flesh and jutted outward.
At first, it hadn’t realized.
When its brain was flooded with adrenaline, fitting for its name as the embodiment of violence,
“Grk! Grak!”
The Monster of Violence hadn’t felt pain for a brief moment and was convinced of its victory.
It never imagined it would be defeated so miserably.
Then, as it looked ahead,
Tap. Tap.
The masked kin casually stood up, brushing off the dust as if nothing had happened.
Despite having taken its full-force attack, the kin was unharmed.
And the Monster of Violence, for some inexplicable reason,
Shuddered.
A monster born from the human emotion of fear now felt fear like a human.
“Gr… Graaaaaah…!”
It couldn’t believe it.
It was impossible.
A being that was one of the core fears that terrified humans!
“Gr… Gra… Graaaaaaaaah!”
It couldn’t allow this to happen.
For the wielder of violence to be defeated by violence and tremble in fear?!
With its six broken arms, the Monster of Violence squeezed out its last strength and leapt into the air, aiming a kick at the mysterious kin.
But.
Crunch.
Even its kicking leg shattered like an egg against a rock.
At the same time.
“Grkrkrk.”
‘This is for my 300,000 won.’
With all the pain, anemia, and dark history combined into one blow,
This time, Kang Jung-hoon clenched his fist instead of using his palm.
As soon as the punch landed on the Monster of Violence’s face,
It exploded with such force that its title of “violence” became meaningless.
Literally, boom!
“Gr… Grk?!”
‘Uh… huh?’
Even the puncher himself was surprised by the sheer force of his blow.
The Monster of Violence’s head burst instantly and disappeared without a trace.