The moment my feet touched the soil at the start of the Mt. Inwang hiking trail, a subtle 'pulsation' transmitted through my soles, carrying a distinct sense of wrongness. It wasn't the resonance of natural tectonic activity. It was like a massive heart, deep within the earth, beating sluggishly as if stretching after hundreds of years. The entire mountain was exhaling shallow, irregular breaths like a singular, gargantuan organism.
I stopped walking for a moment and furrowed my brow.
Ah, what is it this time... Should I just ignore it?
The first thought that entered my mind was sheer 'annoyance.' I was finally enjoying a normal day, and I had no desire to step back into the realm of the abnormal. However, the unpleasant vibration continuing to travel through my feet was too unsettling to ignore.
"Sigh... I'll just check it and leave. It's probably nothing."
Muttering to myself, I reluctantly turned toward the deeper parts of the mountain. It didn't feel like an extension of a peaceful stroll; it felt like I was dragging myself to deal with a tedious chore.
As I climbed higher along the trail, the tremors in the earth became more pronounced. What had started as a faint vibration under my soles was now felt through my entire body at regular intervals, like the rhythmic footfalls of a walking giant. Simultaneously, the density of the air began to shift. The refreshing mountain breeze gradually turned heavy and damp, gaining a strange viscosity. The chirping of insects and the songs of birds vanished as if they had never existed. In the unnatural silence, a faint, metallic scent of dust—the kind found only in the deepest recesses of a cave—began to mix with the smell of grass and soil.
My Authority of Medusa sent a warning. It told me that the earth beneath my feet was in agony—that something massive and profane was attempting to tear through the flesh of the land. At the same time, the Authority of Tāwhirimātea informed me that the currents of the wind were twisting bizarrely around a specific point halfway up the mountain.
Gradually, the sight of other people disappeared. Before I knew it, I had veered off the official hiking trail and into a secluded path overgrown with dense thickets. At this point, I had a premonition that even if I wanted to turn back, I no longer could.
The central command center of the Four Divine Guardians, specifically the situation room for the 'Project Damocles' operational team.
Dozens of monitors displayed real-time video and data from surveillance equipment installed across Mt. Inwang. The situation room, bathed in cold blue light, was wrapped in a tension so thick it was punctuated only by the hum of the server cooling fans. On the largest central screen, the movement path of Min-jun Jeong, marked by a red dot, was being traced clearly.
"Target is approaching the center of the seal as per the predicted route. Current altitude 250 meters. Evacuation of all civilians in the vicinity has been completed."
"Good."
Team Leader Kang replied, licking his dry lips. His temples were still throbbing with pain, but his eyes were glinting like a hound cornering its prey.
"Transition to Phase 2 of the unsealing. Expose the divine aura of 'Jiha Daegukjeok' more clearly. Release more bait so the target doesn't stray elsewhere and heads straight for the heart of the site."
"Team Leader, but the seal stability metrics are nearing the critical limit! The concentration of spiritual particles is rising exponentially! If we open it any further..."
"I'll take responsibility. Execute it."
At Team Leader Kang's firm command, the agent hesitantly manipulated the console. In that instant, among the dozens of barriers established deep beneath Mt. Inwang, the second outer barrier loosened with a conceptual groan.
The change was instantaneous.
Rumble—!
A tremor incomparable to anything prior shook the entire mountain. The ground beneath undulated like waves, and the few remaining birds in the distance took to the sky all at once, screaming in terror.
And finally, the true form began to manifest.
A black haze, like a dark heat shimmer, began to rise from the epicenter of the vibration. It wasn't merely smoke or fog. It was pure 'Evil Qi,' writhing like a living creature. The grass and trees touched by this Malefic Miasma turned black and withered instantly, looking like mummies drained of all moisture.
I increased my pace toward the source of the Evil Qi. Cutting through the forest and leaping over boulders, I soon reached a wide clearing. In the center of that clearing sat a strangely enormous rock, sealed layers deep by heavy chains and weathered talismans.
Ruuuumble—!
All the calamity was radiating from that very rock. The chains were pulled taut as if they were about to snap, and the talismans hissed and charred whenever they came into contact with the black energy.
"So it's you. The one who's been making all that noise underground since earlier."
The moment I whispered those words—
BOOM!
The massive rock shattered as if exploding from within. Along with the flying shards of stone, a gargantuan roar erupted, shaking the very foundations of the mountain.
"GRAAAAAAAAA—!"
Beyond the cloud of dust, an overwhelming silhouette rose to its feet.
It was a massive, naked body standing well over twenty meters tall. Though its skin was as pale as if it had never seen a single ray of sunlight, its physique appeared as solid as a statue carved out of an entire mountain range.
But what truly arrested the gaze was its horrific head—or rather, heads.
Atop a thick neck, nine heads writhed independently like a Hydra. One head roared in fury, another sneered with greed, and yet another looked down with arrogant condescension. Each of the nine heads possessed a different flavor of malice, facing different directions, as nine pairs of glowing red eyes simultaneously pierced through me.
Looking at that overwhelming spectacle, I found myself letting out a deep sigh instinctively.
...Nine heads? That's cheating.
My mind became a mess of complications. What kind of situation was this? I just wanted to walk down the street like a normal person. I had simply sensed a slight anomaly and came to check it out, yet what appeared before me was a concentrated lump of calamity capable of effortlessly flattening an entire city.
Should I fight? Or should I just pretend I didn't see anything and run away?
If I ran, this thing would undoubtedly descend the mountain and turn Seoul into a wasteland. That would eventually destroy my ordinary daily life anyway. But to fight... honestly, it was just too much of a pain. Having the power to kill gods and wanting to use that power were two entirely different matters. The memory of the pain that felt like my body was being torn apart and the sensation of a life-and-death struggle where I had to throw everything away was still vivid.
The giant destroyed its surroundings for a moment before noticing me—the tiny uninvited guest who had woken it from its slumber. Nine pairs of crimson light fixed onto me. A massive pressure that shook the mountain weighed down on me, but I merely scratched my head as if I had a migraine.
Then, nine mouths opened simultaneously, and voices of different tones merged into a singular cacophony that echoed directly into my mind.
[Ah, damn... Finally out. Ten years... I thought I'd die of boredom!]
The voice was thick with profound lethargy and irritation. One of the creature's nine heads tilted as it spotted me.
[Wait... You. You have an aura similar to those greenhorns from ten years ago... No, the quality is completely different.]
The creature's eighteen eyes scanned me as if probing my very soul. Suddenly, the contempt vanished from all nine heads, replaced by a gluttonous ecstasy.
[Gahahaha! You... you've devoured a god! Your very existence is woven from the screams of dead gods! This isn't some pathetic game of playing hero—this is the real thing!]
"No, I was just passing by. You're the one who was making all that noise first," I replied bluntly. However, a single bead of cold sweat rolled down my spine.
[Don't feign ignorance, Usurper! How dare you pretend to be ordinary when you've stolen that which belongs to the divine! Fine! Very well! This will be far more entertaining than hunting boring humans!]
"Sigh..."
In the end, there was only one choice.
I let out another long sigh and corrected my slouching posture. The persona of Min-jun Jeong, the ordinary university student, ended there.
Inside me, the switch that maintained the performance of normalcy flipped to the 'off' position.
The colors of the world faded, and the ambient noise grew distant. The annoyance and hesitation from moments ago vanished without a trace, replaced only by a cold, clinical analysis of the enemy before me.
Nine heads... do I have to crush them all, or is there a separate core like a heart? Either way, it's going to be a nuisance.
[Come, Godslayer! I shall crush you along with those arrogant Authorities of yours!]
The giant recognized me not as an arch-nemesis, but as the ultimate trophy, and swung a gargantuan iron club downward. With a thunderous roar akin to a landslide, the ground where I had been standing was gouged deep, and the surrounding trees were uprooted entirely.
However, I was no longer there.
"I've always hated noisy things."
Riding a sudden gale conjured by the Authority of Tāwhirimātea, I landed lightly on a boulder dozens of meters away. It was a cold, regal voice of a King, completely different from before.
"The price for ruining my ordinary day... will be quite steep."
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register