TRPM 37

chapter 37

I arrived at the place that the kidnappers of Lee Ha-eun had in their minds—the hideout of the one they called “the Doctor.”

“…The seaside, huh…”

The sea was the domain of the Black Fog.
And the shore that bordered it could be attacked at any time by monsters born of that black mist.

Of course, the coasts of our country were relatively safe.

“Geographically, Japan acts as a breakwater for us…”

But that didn’t mean monsters never appeared on our shores.
Sometimes creatures would ride the currents and suddenly emerge along our beaches.

That’s why hardly anyone lived near the coast.
Unless you were a soldier stationed to patrol it, there were almost no visitors.

“…Which also makes it a perfect place to hide something.”

Few residents, few visitors—it was the ideal spot for anyone wanting to conduct secret business.
That must have been why this “Doctor” had built his laboratory here.

“…Anyway…”

When I spread my internal energy to sense the inside of the lab, I detected no guards.
There seemed to be a security system, but no armed personnel.

No… that wasn’t quite right.

“Only one pure human inside. The rest are all…”

I felt the presence of both human and monster in the others—likely chimeras.

And the aura they gave off… I had felt it before.

“…Yes. It’s the same as what I sensed before regression. And not until I’d already reached a certain level back then.”

My body reacted instinctively.
No—my body was tense.
It was telling me that to handle all of them now, I would need to fight at full power.

Even my puppet, crafted from a branch of the World Tree and millennial cold iron, might not be enough.

“…”

Feeling that, I drew my sword from subspace and advanced into the lab, alert.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The moment I entered, the security system activated.
Even though I’d reduced my presence, it hadn’t been enough to fool the lab’s defenses.

“Let’s see… heat sensors, laser sensors, pressure and mana detectors. I thought I’d bypassed them all—what tripped me up?”

I didn’t linger on the thought.
Since I’d been detected, sneaking would be useless.
Speed would serve me better than stealth.

Whirr… Clank! Clank!

Lasers fired, doors slammed shut, barriers dropped—but they couldn’t stop me.
By the time a weapon locked on, I was already gone.
I passed through security doors before they closed—or cut them apart if they had.

“…Not ordinary material.”

Only I could slice through them so easily.
I could tell: unless one used an Aura Blade, even aura users would struggle to scratch this alloy.

“This Doctor… he isn’t ordinary.”

Well, anyone trying to fuse human and monster DNA couldn’t be normal.

It was then, as I headed deeper inside—

Bang! Bang!

“!”

Something fast was approaching.
I turned toward a sealed door just as it opened.

Kyaaaaah!

Bang!

A grotesque creature burst out, swinging a forelimb at me.

“!”

I ducked just in time.
Its strike missed me and smashed into the wall.

Boom!

The walls weren’t as strong as the doors, but still sturdy.
For something’s claws to sink in like that—it meant its strength was tremendous.

“…”

I slashed my sword.

Slash!

The blade cut smoothly through its body.

“…Just as I thought. Strong attack, weak defense.”

Its legs were quick, its forelimbs powerful, built purely for hunting prey.
But its body lacked durability—it had abandoned defense for offense.

And I knew this creature.

“Raptor.”

Named for its resemblance to the Velociraptor.
A predator specialized in killing humans, fearless of death.

But that wasn’t the important part.

“Why is it here already…?”

The Raptors—and other monsters created by the Black Fog specifically to hunt humans—were what broke our defense lines and drove humanity toward extinction.

Which meant these things shouldn’t exist until decades from now.

“…No, wait…”

I was wrong.
These weren’t born of the Black Fog.

Seeing one emerge from this lab made it obvious—

“…Don’t tell me humanity didn’t perish to the Black Fog, but to monsters created by humans themselves.”

The Black Fog was the main culprit, yes.
But what opened the way for the killing blow… was humanity.

Mankind’s extinction was a man-made disaster.
Humans built the monsters that tore open our defenses.
The Black Fog merely poured its own beasts through the breach.

“…Haah…”

What on earth had this Doctor been thinking, creating such a thing—and releasing them upon the future world?

Kyaaaaah!
Kreek! Kik! Kieek!

“…”

I felt more creatures converging on me.
The Doctor must have unleashed them after seeing the Raptor fall so easily.

…Well, look at it positively.

“If I kill them all here, then the future might not suffer the same fate, right?”

Though, at my current level, my puppet would take serious damage to fight them all.
And unlike my true body, the puppet’s energy reserves were limited.

I would need to fight with maximum efficiency.

The moment the next door opened, I moved.

Stab!

My sword pierced the throat of the hulking monster at the front.

“Behemoth.”

Not fast, but massive and powerful—a troublesome foe.
A stab to the throat wouldn’t kill it, but that wasn’t the point.
It was just the beginning.

Slash!

I abandoned the embedded blade, drew another from subspace, and beheaded a monster lunging from the side.

“Horse’s head, single horn… a Unicorn.”

Fast, resistant to magic and aura, it had slain many hunters.
But it was weak to pure physical force.
With skill, one blade was enough.

Kicking its corpse backward, I forced several other beasts to stagger.
In that moment, I finished the Behemoth.

Stab!

A second sword pierced its throat.
Grabbing both blades, I tore sideways.

Slashhh!

Its neck ripped apart.

Even before the body hit the floor, I flung one sword at the most dangerous aura I sensed.

Thwack!

The blade impaled it cleanly, pinning it to the wall.

“A Fairy. Disgusting in form and action both.”

Weak individually, but annoying with magic.
Their illusions often turned hunters against each other.
So standard procedure was always—kill the Fairy first.

“That takes care of the worst nuisances.”

The rest weren’t much.
Strong, yes—but no annoying gimmicks.
I just had to dodge their attacks and cut them down.

“…And before I face the strongest one deeper inside, I could use the warm-up anyway.”

I sensed two distinct presences ahead.
One pure human—the Doctor, likely.
The other…

“Stronger than all of these combined. Just that one will be harder than the rest together.”

I fought on, conserving energy while killing every beast.
Some with precise stabs.
Some with severed limbs.
Some crushed underfoot.

“…Hoo…”

It didn’t take long.
The troublesome ones I’d eliminated first.
The rest was cleanup.

Catching my breath—though as a puppet, I didn’t need to—I walked toward the final presences.

Step… Step…

Soon—

Whirr…

The door ahead opened on its own.

“An invitation?”

So confident…
He must believe the monster at his side could kill me.

“…Then I should accept.”

I stepped through.

As expected, a young man—presumably the Doctor—stood there, with a monster guarding him.

“You’re impressive. To fell so many alone… The rumors of your power weren’t exaggerated after all.”

He had recognized me—the one called the Artist.

But I couldn’t reply.

“…”

“Ah, is my masterpiece so captivating you’re at a loss for words?”

“…”

I stared at the monster by his side, unable to answer.
Because…

“…That thing. You created it too…?”

“Pardon?”

The monster beside him…
Was the very same one that had killed me before my regression.