The catastrophe with the official name Monster 2, but nicknamed the ‘New Human’ by humanity, quickly traversed the South American continent. In the process, the number of hunters who lost their lives to it exceeded thousands, while civilian casualty was simply beyond the scope of anyone’s imagination.

Orlando, Florida, USA.

This largest theme park on earth was always crowded with people 365 days a year, but now, except for one creature, no one else existed. That one creature was, of course, Monster 2.

It stared blankly without even knowing its own purpose. However, Monster 2, who was just about to head somewhere, raised its head when it heard a sound from somewhere.

-Next news! Another League’s Guildmaster, Yoo Seodam, announced that he would go to hunt ‘Monster 2’. People’s expectations are growing, knowing that he will work together with the Murim Lord, Seol Jungyeon.

-Is the subjugation of Monster 2 really possible?

-It’s possible, if I must say. Afterall, Murim Lord is an SSS rank superhuman…

Monster 2 tilted its head at what was displayed on the screen attached to a tall building. It was because the face of that man in the news felt familiar to it.

And a few seconds later, a memory rushed towards its head. It was a memory which reminded it of its reason for being born.

“Yoo… Seodam….”

His goal was over there on the screen. Monster 2 pointed at it with its finger, and the screen went off after letting out a small spark. However, Monster 2 knew it wasn’t the real Yoo Seodam.

‘I have to find the real one…’

Taang-!!

Ting-!!

“…”

Monster 2 turned its head. By now, it had already become used to the sound of the explosion it heard just now: it was the sound made by the lower race called ‘humans’ to express their hostility toward itself.

“What the freaking… The bullet was blocked by a sign that was blown by the wind!!!”

The person who fired the special sniper rifle was a 9-year F-rank hunter; A veteran who had survived countless live and death battles. Therefore, any wind, or whatever which could become a hindrance to him was something he had already calculated. However, just now, a sign was blown by the wind and deflected the bullet ‘coincidentally.’ Thanks to that, without being able to injure the creature, his location was discovered.

‘Damn, I have to run…!’ When he failed to snipe Monster 2, the hunter jumped from a high-rise building with a wire attached to his body, leaving behind all of his other items. However, the wind started to blow wildly at that moment.

‘Ugh… What is this…’

It was literally a natural phenomenon. An ordinary natural phenomenon in which not even a shred of energy was detected.

‘But why now…!!’ Due to the natural phenomenon, the hunter failed to shoot the monster before, and now, his body was rocked back and forth by the wind. And eventually the wire attached to his body snapped, making him fall to the ground.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Crack-!!

Although he was a 9-year-old veteran Hunter, he did not have any superpower. And so, by falling, he lost his life.

Without batting an eyelash, Monster 2 turned his head back indifferently. There was another screen floating in the direction where it was looking.

-This evening, Hunter Yoo Seodam will hold a press conference in Beijing, China…

‘Beijing, China.’ For Monster 2, that information was more than enough. It doesn’t matter where on Earth it was, or what country it was. If it could know where it was; It could go there right away.

Monster 2 disappeared from the spot.

*

There was still no way to know where the creature called Monster 2 was moving towards. However, there was a calculation based on the route it traveled across South America that it would have reached Africa within a day at the earliest.

‘Noonim, tomorrow, we will go to Africa.’ After saying that to Noonim, I held a press conference in Beijing. To be honest, I didn’t really want to do it, but the Chinese government politely asked if I could give their citizens peace of mind, so I had no choice but to do it.

“It’s funny to think there’s still people thinking about politics even in the midst of this trying time.”

“Haha… It’s not like that.”

Actually, what I said was right. China was not trying to reassure its citizens. If they simply wanted to do that, there would be no way that there would be politicians in suits sitting next to me. Perhaps the purpose they followed by helding this press conference was to promote extensively, saying ‘We can control Hunter Yoo Seodam.’

Originally, I didn’t want to do all this, but since I didn’t have a choice, I’m just going to leave after telling these people about my belief.

I am not protecting China, I am protecting the world. The boundary between the two was almost invisible, but Yekaterina thought it would be pretty good if I spoke those words at an official place.

The meaning of the statement would be, it’s not like I’m not going to protect China. But at the same time, it’s not like I’m only protecting China.

In other words, once I said those words, I would be able to counter the political ploy cooked by the Chinese politicians.

“Take it easy. All the necessary preparations for the hunt have been completed, all that remains is to wait.” Noonim said to me as she smiled.

“Right…” Not only that, evacuation orders in the western part of the African continent had also been issued. Truly, the only thing left for me was to wait.

Click-!!! Click-!!!

As I proudly walked to the press conference room, reporters of various nationalities bombard me with their cameras. It felt like a thunderbolt was hitting the ground right in front of me.

I tried my best to ignore all the flash and walked out at a leisurely pace to shake hands with those who had come in advance before approaching the podium and grab the microphone.

“Wait…” Noonim grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. Her expression was cold as usual. But this time, if i must say, it was colder than ever.

“Is there-” Before I could even finish uttering my question, an ominous feeling swept over me. What happened next was purely instinctive on my part. I yelled, “EVERYONE RUN AWAY!” and hurriedly took the gear out of my inventory. However, I don’t know what I was taking out.

Ngggging-!!

My ears rung as my body flies and destroys several walls. My back was impacted by the shock, my vision was flashing and I couldn’t hear anything but the ringing.

It was only when I slammed to the ground did I realize that I had been beaten by something.

“Kuhhuukk…!” A handful of blood comes out with the cough. Meanwhile, tosca sparks erupted in the area around my abdomen.

[Battery Level: 0%]

With just a single impact, the barrier of the first-class ether suit was completely broken.

“This is crazy…” However, as I raised my head and scanned my surroundings, I realized that it wasn’t only the suit’s barrier which was destroyed because of that one attack. The press conference room, which was filled with numerous people just a moment ago, was completely gone. All those who were living just a moment ago had become either corpses or were severely wounded and were strewn all over the place. The hunters who survived the shock were also by no means unstached. They were all stumbling to wherever they felt safe with one or two limbs gone. And in the sky above, Monster 2 and Seol Jungyeon noonim were facing each other.

I rose to my feet and quickly checked my physical condition. Fortunately, even when all the suit’s barriers were exhausted, I suffered no major injuries thanks to my SS rank body.

“Noonim…”

“Are you okay?” Noonim asked without looking at me. Her pinkish sword had already been drawn, aiming at the monster. I promptly drew my sword and faced the monster. At that moment, I could finally see what I didn’t see earlier.

『I%m T9e B35t 3v3r!』

#cliché #SadEnding #None

‘What the…’

Although I couldn’t understand the sentence properly, to some extent, the text was readable. However, what caught my eyes the most was three hashtags attached under the title.

‘Cliché, sad ending… and… What the hell is none?’

While I was wondering, Monster 2 slowly lowered his head and met my eyes. “Yoo Seodam.”

“That’s me.” It was as expected. Like with the Gray Human, I was also able to talk to him. “I didn’t know why you do all the things you do here… What’s your purpose? Did you come to Earth for me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Then the monster blinked. “That, I don’t know.”

“…is that so?” Though, whatever its purpose was, it doesn’t matter.

Click-!!

After loading the Winchester–which was now close to the finished form–I aimed it at him with one hand.

“If you don’t know, you must die.”

Taang!

Bullets equipped with various energy analyzers quickly fly to the monster. However, at that moment, the power facility underneath the floor exploded, creating a magnetic field. Thus, the trajectory of my bullet was bent.

[Protagonist ???’s skill, ‘Protagonist Cliche’ has been activated.]

[Cliche No.1: The protagonist could never be hit by bullets fired by the enemy.]

Monster 2 caught the straying bullet between its fingers and threw it back at me. I hurriedly activated Dharma Footwork technique and escaped the trajectory.

[Cliche No. 2: However, the protagonist’s bullets will always hit their enemy..]

The bullet bent because of the wind and hit my leg.

“Keuk!” It was only a light blow, but the impact caused me to roll over the floor. Shortly thereafter, Monster No. 2 turned his palm toward me to create a whirlpool, but when he saw Noonim blitzing towards it, it immediately turned its hand away.

Kaang-!!

A shock wave swept the area as the sword and the hand collided. Then, Noonim clenched the hilt of her sword with her two hands and then slowly let her body hang down like a cherry blossom floating on the shore of a lake.

Cheonma Heavenly Art (天魔神公)

Cheonma Sword Of Destruction (天魔震魂滅劍)

Snow Plum Blossom (雪梅花)

Waves of pink spread from the tip of the sword. At the end of the wave, plum blossoms began to scatter. If there was a difference between cherry blossoms and plum blossoms, plum blossoms are shorter than cherry blossoms, but they fill the world densely.

The skin of Monster 2 began to peel at the feast of plum blossoms that rained like a heavy snowfall in midwinter. Without even realizing that its own body was being wounded, it gradually crushed into powder just like that.

Before long, the feast of plum blossoms completely covered Monster 2 to the extent that it could not be seen at all. I thought that was also what noonim intended. But suddenly, my mouth opened and a word came out without my permission.

“Noonim, did you kill it?”

[Cliche No.3: If the protagonist was badly wounded and the enemy says, ‘Did you kill it?’ afterwards, the protagonist will appear once again without a single wound.]

Noonim’s plum blossoms were scattered in an instant, and Monster 2 appeared from it.

“Hey, flowerpot! Is it still not ready?”

-No, It’s complete~

At the same time as the answer fell, I gathered mana in both hands and brought my hands to the floor. The legendary sealing magic ‘Seven Barriers’, which was said to have sealed even the balrogs at one time, was activated. A stone, which looked like a moon, floated into the air and then, pillars of fires shot up.

Shhh!

“…..!!!”

The monster’s appearance disappeared in an instant.

“Damn, where!?”

The moment I said that, I fell to the floor as I felt pain in my back. Then, a message appeared in my mind.

[4. If the protagonist ever suddenly disappears mid-fight, if the opponent says ‘Damn, where is he?’, the protagonist will always appear from behind the enemy.]

‘Ugh, you should’ve told me sooner!’ The attack landed on my back was not fatal, so I hurriedly rolled down the floor to widen the gap. Amongst all the protagonists so far, there were several who had similar skills as Monster 2. However, none of them had a power as blatant as Monster 2’s power.

“That being said….” Monster 2’s power was simply broken; it had the most broken cheat skills I’ve ever seen. However, I have come across countless clichés while traveling to hunt protagonists, and I have broken countless cliches so far. On top of it, I also have my own skill: [Protagonist Hunter].

Therefore, I wouldn’t just sit still and fall for all the cliches Monster 2 was armed with.