I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Chapter 17: Why is That Here?

The reason Sophia didn’t use monsters until she became a B-rank Hunter.

The surprising thing was that it was because of me, but even more surprising was that she hadn’t even used any monsters…

Bang!

Bang!

Clang!

She fought much better than I expected.

“Is she really a Beast Hunter?”

Usually, Beast Hunters only sent their controlled monsters to the front while they themselves rested in the back.

But what was with her?

She wielded a scythe larger than herself with ease, persistently trying to leave a mark on me.

She showed much more potential for close combat than most melee hunters.

But that wasn’t the important issue right now.

“Why! Do you! Smell like! Shin-woo! Explain it!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

How could I explain why my scent was on me?

No, more importantly, how did she expect an answer from a monster that couldn’t speak?

“Isn’t she being too careless against a monster…”

Of course, there was no way, but if I were Sophia’s enemy, she would have been dead long ago.

It’s really fortunate that it’s me.

Thinking about Sophia pulling such reckless stunts against another humanoid monster instead of me…

“Grrr…”

I got chills and suddenly had an idea.

“This won’t do. I need to teach her some caution.”

Since Che-ran also needed to be moved to the hospital quickly, I decided to give Sophia a so-called ‘proper education’ as soon as possible.

Thunk!

“Huh, huh?”

Sophia thought she was completely overwhelming me, swinging her scythe with elegance like a dance.

But the pitch-black monster easily caught her scythe, which had never stopped until her opponent fell, with one hand.

Then, it forcibly took away the weapon and grabbed her wrists, lifting her up in the air.

“This, this can’t be!”

Hanging like she was handcuffed, Sophia desperately kicked, trying to get free.

But the only thing hurting was her toes from kicking the monster.

“Maybe she’ll calm down now?”

I tossed the scythe to the side for easy retrieval later.

Then I looked into Sophia’s angry eyes and face, now panting heavily.

It had been a long time since I last saw my family since that brief moment at the airport.

When she, a Beast Hunter with zero social skills, suddenly said she was going to the U.S., I was so worried that my heart pounded like crazy.

I’m really… really glad she came back safely.

“Now, when should I let her go?”

Should I knock her out?

As I considered that and raised my hand to check her neck,

“Eeek…!?”

Sophia suddenly began to tremble, clearly frightened.

Seeing this, I immediately lowered my hand.

“Grrr…”

“Damn it…”

She looked at me with slightly tearful eyes, the intensity of her earlier fire now gone. An awkward silence hung between us for a few seconds. Sophia was the first to break it.

“Why do you smell like Shin-woo?”

“……”

“You’re actually a ‘good monster,’ aren’t you? I saw you at Busan Port ten years ago. I felt it then—an unfamiliar yet comforting aura that I couldn’t sense from other monsters.”

“Grr?”

I tilted my head at Sophia’s words.

An unfamiliar yet comforting aura?

Did Beast Hunters perceive me that way? Or was it just Sophia?

This wasn’t a situation covered in the original story, so I couldn’t draw any definitive conclusions.

The only clear thing was…

“You’re different… You could have killed me, but you only subdued me! You’re not one of those monsters from the history books that pretended to serve humanity while causing harm!”

Sophia absolutely trusted me.

She poured out her feelings, tears streaming down her face.

“But if you harmed Shin-woo in any way, I’d have to kill you. No matter how kind and good a monster you are, I can’t forgive that!”

“Grrr…”

I had thought she would hate me after what happened at the airport.

But it seemed that, being family, she still cared deeply for me.

As family, it was time to clear up this misunderstanding.

I gently set her down on the ground.

She looked utterly bewildered.

Her face, whether now or in the past, always had that bright-eyed, innocent look that proved she was still Sophia.

Maybe that was why.

Pat, pat.

Without thinking, I patted her head, something I used to do until she left for America.

She looked up at me with her blue eyes, sparkling with realization.

“Shin-woo?”

Startled, I leaped high into the sky and quickly left the scene before her words could turn into certainty.

Sophia, left alone, stood there with a vibrant look on her face, touching the spot on her head where I had patted her.

“Ah! Yu Che-ran!”

She remembered the girl her mother had brought over from America as a student.

The girl who had fainted after being attacked by Twinhead needed immediate medical attention.

I needed to call 911 first.

***

Hunter Association, Korean Branch.

In the underground research wing, accessible only to the highest-ranking officials.

“What do you mean the reaction suddenly disappeared…?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, I contacted my husband, and the military unit heading to Seoul is now going back up to Gangwon-do.”

Rolling was talking to a researcher in front of a giant test tube emitting a green glow in the dimly lit room.

She had just come down to the research wing to change into ‘Armor – White Tiger,’ but had removed her armor again, shrugging her shoulders.

“Is this a fortunate situation… or an unfortunate one?”

“Of course, it’s fortunate. No matter how harmless a monster seems, if provoked, it will retaliate. If it just retreats, that’s a relief, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

The researcher nodded at Rolling’s response and then suddenly asked a question.

“But, Rolling, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“You keep saying the Jamsil monster has ‘no hostility towards humans,’ but it’s only its third appearance, and the total time it’s appeared barely adds up to ten minutes. Why do you define it as ‘uninterested in humans’?”

A typical Hunter might not understand, but for someone representing Korea’s Hunters, it seemed like a reckless answer.

…Or so the researcher might have thought.

Rolling herself was aware of this, feeling an inexplicable ‘affection’ towards a mere monster.

Ten years ago, on that day.

It was one thing to owe my life to it.

After everything ended, the admiral greeted the Jamsil monster with a karate punch, even though they couldn’t speak.

The monster responded in kind with the same punch, and for a brief moment, Rolling felt like she was facing a person.

So… she made a judgment call.

“I’m sorry. It seems I made a mistake. There’s no way a monster wouldn’t be hostile to humans…”

“No, we don’t know that yet.”

The researcher cut off Rolling’s self-reproach and instead validated her statement.

She twisted her red hair in front of her fingers and spoke with interest.

“Maybe it’s just undiscovered. Or perhaps history recorded it incorrectly.”

“That’s… quite a leap.”

“Maybe. But we can’t just leave the Jamsil monster alone forever, can we?”

The researcher leaned back against the huge test tube behind her as she finished speaking.

Rolling had momentarily forgotten about the Jamsil monster, but now she noticed ‘that thing,’ brought here without a word to her, the deputy head of the Korean branch.

“Don’t make such a scary face, Rolling.”

“…Then, Director, you need to explain why something like that is in the basement of the Hunter Association building.”

“Sigh…”

The head researcher of the Hunter Association Korean Branch.

Also serving as the branch chief, a woman with green and red hair, each color painted on the front and back halves of her head, her eyes always half-closed.

The only permanent state-level Hunter in Korea, ‘Lee Jin-ah,’ felt the piercing gaze from Rolling, who looked like she might smash the test tube behind her.

“Hmm…”

She moved away from the test tube and leaned against the wall, sighing again before explaining.

“Chief!”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll explain everything. We brought that here to strengthen the power of our Korean branch.”

“…Not for personal reasons?”

“Deputy Chief Rolling, please don’t speak so harshly. This is all for the national interest.”

Lee Jin-ah paused, then took a cigarette from her lab coat.

But Rolling still looked unconvinced.

Even if the branch chief had such abilities, that thing was too dangerous.

“Bringing up the ‘Angel’ that died at Busan Port is insane!”

In the large test tube emitting a green glow between them, the corpse of the national disaster-level monster, Angel, which almost turned the entire Korean Peninsula into a sea of fire ten years ago, was stored.